A Pain that I'm Used To
by divinne
Summary: Sequel to 'Forever...' LUNA/DRACO/BLAISE: is it Love,Desire,Obsession or Madness? It’s only after you’ve lost EVERYTHING that you’re free to do ANYTHING! Draco's Journey Dark Side: Taboos-Gore-NonConSex-Dark Magic-Alchemy-Vengeance&Payback! Book7Spoilers
1. Chapter 1

Sequel to 'Forever May Not Be Long Enough'

Draco is an intelligent and handsome young wizard, role model student, keen strategist and Slytherin's prefect…Saving the woman he loved turn him into a cold killer, possessive husband and a paranoid with a very fragile sanity. The "Most Unexpected Hero" would face up the consequences of his actions. Is redemption out of his reach this time?

**CHAPTER I:**

'_Precious and fragile things  
Need special handling  
My God what have we done to you?  
We always tried to share  
The tenderest of care  
Now look what we have put you through._

_Things get damaged  
Things get broken  
I thought we'd manage  
But words left unspoken  
Left us so brittle  
There was so little left to give.'  
_

_(DEPECHE MODE - "Precious")_

It was a cold and windy morning at Cedar's Topiary Chateau. The construction of the young couple's hiding place followed an exquisite medieval gothic style, Draco's favourite.

The ancient stone built love nest was surrounded by a vast garden with tall cedar spiral topiary trees geometrically aligned. Several stone pillars broke up the garden into distinct zones, with different colour sandstone paved paths.

The splendid black stone Chateau was far from being a cosy rural spot: it was a sophisticated fortress strongly protected with countless of magical protection spells. The garden served as a well devised barrier: not a single soul could enter the property if not properly instructed by the creative genius of the project's maker: Draco Malfoy.

Peeking from behind the large wood painting mount stand appeared the silhouette of a beautiful girl of long dirty blond hair and curious pearl grey eyes. Luna was dressed with a dazing violet warm sweater, dark checked cloth pants and pink furry winter boots.

While rubbing her forehead with the tip of the paintbrush, she lifted her free arm, placing the thumb and index finger at a right angle, aiming at the target she was painting: a small squirrel resting at a branch of the tree in front of her.

"When I woke up and reached out for you in the bed, you were not there." Draco called out, frowning a bit while crossing his arms, waiting patiently at a measured distance from her.

He was dressed with a heavy ink black overcoat: an olive green shirt's collar was coming out from his V neck black sweater. The dark green pants loosely fitting his slender long legs.

"Morning Draco! It's a wonderful day to paint, don't you think?" She gave him a candid smile.

He didn't reply and looked up, a tint of moist in the air foreshadowed a coming storm. Large tainted clouds were covering fast the sickly greyish black coloured sky. He was starting to feel cold; he lifted the neck of his overcoat and placed his hands inside the pockets.

"_Right…"_ He muttered under his breath with chilled cynicism. 'What is it this time?' He asked, ducking his head to one side, wondering what she was doing.

"See that that cute little fellow over there? I'm painting his portrait". She said with a dreamy look.

He rolled his eyes and let go a sigh but suddenly it occurred to Draco that he just wouldn't allow such a small and insignificant animal monopolized his wife's attention when she'd rather be spending more time with him.

"What's so special about that rodent of yours?" He raised an eyebrow, throwing a piercing look at his wife.

"Just take look at it: what an adorable, fluffy, cosy, smoothly little thing…so tiny!" She smiled widely.

"_So hopeless…" _He said to himself.

"You know what? Today Chubby eat from my hand, he behaves like my pet now that I gain his trust!" She celebrated.

"You've gave that thing a name? Luna, will you stop adopting every filthy beast that crosses your way?!" Draco opened wide his shocked amethyst blue eyes.

"Don't you worry, I will!" Luna's face shined with happiness and added. "All creatures deserve to be free, so I'm not going to take away their liberty no matter how much I want them to take them with me once we go back to dad's house. I just happen to enjoy playing with them while we're here."

"Luna, we're already_ home_…here…you and me. Forget the idea of ever returning to your father's house. I've made built this place for us, to start our lives together, like husband and wife." He let go a heavy sigh and leaned closed, opening his overcoat like a pair of wings he wrapped her around with it, pressing her tight against his body.

Luna closed her eyes and rested one cheek on Draco's chest, feeling the rhythm of his heartbeat accelerating a bit when he tilted his head to meet her eyes and smirked.

"_This is home, the way it should be, just the two of us…always."_ He whispered softly into her ear, rocking slowly from one side to the other without releasing her from the protective, warm and cosy embrace.

"Just you and me?" She paused, swallowing hard as she broke the embrace. "This place is huge! What about my father and my friends? Can they come and visit us?"

He placed his empty hands again inside his pockets and shook his head. "Your father comes whenever he want, now regarding your friends….it's not safe to reveal them where we are".

"You're determined to keep our marriage in secret then?" She said with a thread of voice.

Draco sighed deeply and focused his gaze on her pearl grey eyes. "For your safety and my peace of mind, we cannot reveal the secret. We're already facing the worst part of this war and if the Dark Lord followers realize that you're my weakest point, they'll do anything to get to you in order to bring me down."

"I promise you that my friends won't tell a thing, please?". Luna asked with what would be her last attempt to change Draco's mind.

"No, I don't trust them. Those gits wouldn't understand our relationship. Besides, they would jeopardize everything I've done in order to make this place safe and secure." He frowned searching inside his overcoat a small pocket knife and started playing with it in between his fingers with an incredibly ability and skill.

Draco's small knife was an ancient magic tool used never to cut, but to defend. It was a personal knife made of steel with a double edged blade and black handle: colour meant to absorb power. The blade featured several engraved symbols: it was a secret protection spell meant for its bearer.

"You don't trust in anyone Draco." She shrugged, feeling for the fist time in the day the coldness of the air.

"Exactly…" He shot back, without looking at her.

"Not even me?" She bit her lip, and took a step closer.

"Sweetheart, you're the exemption to the rule, to any rule, you know that." He smirked and, using it as a dart, he nailed the knife just on the centre of the squirrel's head…of Luna's portrait.

"Kill it." A dark look haunted then his amethyst blue eyes, he was aiming his wand at her.

"Draco…don't…" She hugged herself, trying to contain her tremors.

"I've said…kill it!" He ordered with a hint of irritation.

"No!" Luna, shaking and sobbing silently, pulled out her wand from behind her ear.

"Look at that pathetic pet of yours in the eyes and cast the curse!" He smirked with a tint of malice.

She aimed at the squirrel with a trembling pulse, as she closed shut her eyes.

"Please…don't make me do it…I won't…he's my pet!" She begged as a tear rolled down her cheek.

Draco walked towards her, holding tight his wand. He stopped a few steps from her, an evil smirk moulding his pale face.

"Tell me, would it make things easier to kill that spider?" He pointed at a big poisonous arachnid standing where the squirrel was moments ago.

She opened her eyes, crying silent tears holding the wand high with a terrible shaky pulse; her self-strength was reaching a final state at that point, she couldn't fight back Draco's command any longer and she cast the killing curse.

"No! I killed him…I killed my pet!" She sobbed, unable to stop trembling. The pain was making her voice crack.

He grabbed her gently by the arm pulling her close, restraining her grief-stricken shaking body around his strong arms as she tried in vain to get rid from him.

"Sweetheart, I'm just trying to teach you." He caressed her hair against his chin with passion.

"I killed Chubby!" She choked.

"It's simple: defend yourself against the Imperious Curse and I promise I won't torture again with this practises. Repetition is the mother of skill. You're getting good in fighting back the curse, this time it took me longer to persuade you, well done!" He cupped her chin with his hand, kissing her forehead.

"It was such an innocent creature…." She looked away, with a profound sadness at the unfinished painting of the squirrel.

"Calm down, you've actually killed that filthy spider." He soothed her.

"No, you turned my pet into a spider, it was him…" Luna mumbled, sorting things out inside her head.

"That's because you've got your eyes closed when I switched them. Your pet is here…" A small furry ball came out from the pocket of Draco's overcoat: it was Luna's small pet.

"Oh, come here you little thing…look he's mortified by all this!" She said, cupping the confused animal in one hand with motherly instinct.

For a moment, Luna looked extremely happy to find her pet safe and sound in her hands, but then she felt the tears she thought had stopped rolling down her cheeks again.

"Oh….no…. to kill a spider brings bad luck and it didn't deserve to die just because it was ugly!" Sadness and fear haunted her pearl grey eyes.

"Come on, give me a break here!" Draco rolled his eyes.

"I feel so….ashamed of myself!" Luna started punishing herself for being so weak.

"Luna, I want to teach you everything I know, I want you to be able to fight and protect yourself…" His voice trailed off.

She nodded without saying a word, feeling a painful knot obstructing her throat.

"If you don't want me to teach you, I told you that I would hire private teachers."

"But…'"She opened her mouth to protest but he placed his index finger softly on her lips, halting her words.

"If you're not comfortable around strangers, I can ask Mad Eye or Lupin to teach you, they're in debt with me." He soothed, reaching out protectively her arm.

Luna recoiled, walking a few steps back, with her wand high aiming back at Draco.

"I want to go back to Hogwarts…" She sighed, looking miserable.

"You want to go back after all that happened? Are you in your right mind?! Going back to Hogwarts would be a suicide!" He snapped.

She held her breath, knowing that her eyes were shining with the tears she was struggling to hold back.

"You don't belong there and me neither! Don't you remember how miserable you felt back at Hogwarts?" He clenched his teeth, throwing a stabbing cold stare at her.

"Yes, I know perfectly well I'll be always an outcast, thanks for reminding me that!" Luna's cheeks went red with restrained anger.

"I don't want anything to harm you ever again!" He paused in vain for a sign of comprehension. "Can't you see what I'm doing here? I'm tying to protect you!"

A sudden exhaustion overcame her. Luna sighed and nodded, wiping away her tears.

"Luna, do you think I don't care about finishing school? Well, you're wrong! I want both of us to complete our studies, but not at Hogwarts. Let's do it here now that we're finally settled. I'll start looking for private teachers first thing tomorrow morning." He crossed his arms, leaning close to her.

"All that matters is that you're safe here with me. And we'll receive proper education, better than the one at Hogwarts." He soothed her.

"Okay…" Luna said, considering that for a while narrowing her eyes in deep thinking. She swallowed hard, and straightened her back.

"Luna, don't waste your time performing the Legilimens spell on me. But I must realize that was quite and impressive try, I'm pleased." His amethyst blue eyes showed visible compassion. He looked up and added. "A storm is coming; get away from that tree…it attracts lightings."

She didn't move, still holding tight her wand in her hand, trembling slightly. Small rain drops started to fall, some of them got trapped in her long messy curls, reflecting rainbow colours.

"Well, since you're so determined to pull this off…pay attention, okay? This is how you've got to do it." He pointed his wand at her, breathing steady.

"_Try to block me... you can do it…keep me out….no, try harder!"_ He muttered with clenched teeth.

Shattered images flashed from Luna's mind as he accessed her memories. Draco saw images of their wedding; of Luna's father and mother; of Harry and the D.A classes, of Professor Flitwick teaching charms;of Luna petting her owl; of her petting Chubby; of Neville laughing despite the fact he didn't get any of the jokes; of Neville falling to the lake after his fishing net got caught by a tree root; of Neville singing catchy muggle songs….the more images of Neville appeared inside Luna's mind, the angrier Draco got by the minute.

"What's with you and that nebbish toad?!" He shot back; his amethyst blue eyes redden with psychotic jealousy.

She stared at him, looking surprised. It took her a few moments to understand what he had just asked.

"Neville and I are just friends." She replied easily.

"Just friends?!" He chewed over her affirmation with an incredulous stare.

"Actually, he's my best friend." This time she replied with equal incredulity, concentrated on breathing calmly.

A bolt of lighting stuck on the tree near Luna, it was pouring now.

"Damnit!" Draco protested, looking extremely annoyed.

Fear squeezed her lungs. Luna couldn't tell for sure if he was angry because she was almost caught by that lighting, for she refused to move away from the tree when he asked or if he was mad because she and Neville were best friends and they were very fond of each other.

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Luna was in the bathroom, getting undressed as she started the shower running. After taking her clothes off and folding them carefully inside the laundry basket, she reached into the stream of water in the shower, feeling its warmth. Once inside the bathtub she made a few consecutive yawns, she was feeling really tired. Taking a big breath, she leaned her forehead to the wall; the warm water was washing down her back, soothing her, relaxing her fragile body.

Before getting out of the shower, Luna waved blindly for a small towel for her long blond hair and fashioned it as a turban. She wrapped her milk white thin body with the large bath towel. Getting rid of the mirror's steam with one hand, she jumped as she glanced into it and saw someone, or something looking back at her out from the mirror through empty eye sockets. She shook her head, closing tight her eyes, as she leaned over the sink for support, trying to catch her breath. Then she started the faucet running in the washbasin and splashed a handful of cold water in her face. She looked up and stared at her wet face in the mirror, which was again blank and foggy. After getting rid of the steam once more with her open palm, this time she saw her own reflection staring back at her. She slowly traced her right hand along her face, feeling herself as she paid attention at her eyes, finding trouble to get used their pearl grey colour. She dried her face on a towel and proceeded to comb her messy dirty blond curls, pulling them back from her face. Then she put a lilac cotton coat covering the soft curves of her body.

"Luna, come here! I want you next to me..." The voice of Draco came out from the bedroom.

Draco was resting his back over the bed's head rest. He was only wearing black pyjama pants, his hands were crossed against his slender bare chest.

He smirked, extending his arms at the sight of her coming from the bathroom. Luna climbed to the bed; he pulled her head over his chest, closing his eyes while caressing her wet curls between his fingers as water drops fell down over his well-toned muscles. His warmth and the soft rumble of his chest lulled her as he hummed.

"_Please hold me tight."_ She whispered, burying her nose against his chest, shivering. Her pearl grey eyes were shining with tears.

"Luna…you're crying…what happened?" His eyes finally opened, staring at her with disbelief.

"I can't help it…" Her soft cheeks flushed a bit.

He pulled back briefly to kiss her tenderly on the mouth, licking his lips with her moist skin.

"I guess I'm a bit worried about my dad, he's alone back home." Luna frowned, biting her lower lip. She felt nervous for not being able to tell him the whole truth.

"Sweetheart, he's being attended by my best house elf, his house has been secured just like I've instructed…besides, your father comes here every other day! Remember he was the one who agreed to let us have some time alone to enjoy our postponed honeymoon!" He protested.

"I know, I'm sorry…It's just that sometimes I feel that this is too much for me and it scares me!" She confessed all of a sudden.

"Luna, we're enjoying our time together…at last…" He hissed.

"Draco, it's just that sometimes I find it hard to realize this is actually happening…to me!" She sighed deeply.

"You're afraid of being happy, is that what you're trying to say?!" He opened wide his eyes.

"I'm not used to this luxurious life, not me neither my father..." She choked.

"Here we go again…" He rolled his eyes and sighed loudly. He could understand her way of thinking, but he didn't like it. "Luna, you deserve to have everything that's good in life. Stop punishing yourself for having what you so well deserve…in other words…me!" He smirked.

She took a deep breath and said. "That's the problem, I don't deserve you!"

"Would you stop talking nonsense?!" It took about a fraction of second for Draco to become angry with her.

He took a big breath, trying to refocus his sudden anger to a controlled and calm level and rolled her body to the side, getting on top of her. His eyelids brushed her lips as he peeked through her broad neckline with devilish delight.

"_Sweetheart, trust me, I'm the lucky one…" _He whispered.

He caressed the soft curve of her collar bone and aimed down up to her waist, undoing the coat's satin ribbon with one hand.

"Draco, wait! Where are you going?" Luna's cheeks blushed with a tint of red.

"I'm…going…down…" He hissed.

"Stop!" She sucked in a deep breath.

"I know you like it when I kiss you down there and I'm getting quite an expert." He smirked, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't be modest Draco, you got it right on the first attempt." She gave him a reassuring smile.

"One of this days, you can give a try too and retrieve the favour… you know? No pressure…" He winked at her.

She nodded, closing shut her eyes and blushing madly, unable to pronounce a word.

"Uhmm…" Draco's amethyst blue eyes brightened with desire.

Luna's legs opened at the touch of his lips as she started dripping with the juices of her arousal. Her brain was spinning; every touch from Draco's mouth and tongue made her body shiver with electric spasms. He slowly pulled himself up and in between her legs, throwing his pants to the floor. He caressed the softness of her thighs as the assumed position.

"Now I want to take you higher again, but this time with me, together, okay?" His heart was beating faster, he rubbed his sweaty forehead against hers.

"Draco, I don't think my heart or my body will resist it after what you've just done to me." She gasped softly as she tried to catch up her breath.

"Sweetheart, I'll take care of you all the way, like I always do, just relax." He hissed, kissing softly her blushing cheeks.

She felt him start to enter her: he was so big and so hard! Draco was gentle and slow, applying firm pressure at first, then he resumed pushing gently, sliding slowly but steadily inside. Draco's mouth was devouring hers, his tongue thrusting in and out. As the tension built, tighter and painfully, he finally unleashed each and every inch of his strength inside her. Their naked feverish bodies, sweaty and trembling with ecstasy collapsed in an endless tight embrace as the pleasure faded, leaving them breathlessly.

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	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER II

**CHAPTER II**

_"It's getting hectic everywhere that I go  
They won't leave me alone  
There's things they all wanna know  
I'm paranoid of all the people I meet  
Why are they talking to me?  
And why can't anyone see._

_I just wanna live  
Don't really care about the things that they say  
Don't really care about what happens to me  
I just wanna live."_

_(GOOD CHARLOTTE - "I Just Wanna Live")_

Luna entered the kitchen hopping as if playing with an invisible hopscotch drawn on the floor. She stopped in front of the sink as she put an apron on. Then she fixed her long blond hair back in a loose bun using her wand and rolled the sleeves of her blouse while searching through the endless cabinets for the elements required for her recipe displaying them all on the table.

"Okay, today I'll prepare something different for breakfast…" She said to herself.

The mixture on the bowl was almost ready. She looked for that large pan from the very bottom of the cabinet, making the rest of the kitchen tools inside fall over it with a crushing metallic sound. She muttered several cursing words as she retrieved the pan from behind the pile of things that lied on top of it.

"What's missy doin' here?!" An annoying faulty nasal tone voice came from behind her.

"Hello Farouk! I'm preparing a strawberry pie." Luna greeted, stirring the mixture of the bowl against her lap with a large wood spoon.

"Na-ah it's "Pharouthk" missy…" The house elf corrected.

"Pa…rout?" Luna mumbled looking puzzled.

"Na-ah…no worry…" The creature sighed threatening to take the bowl from her without the slightest sign of politeness.

"Na-ah!" She protested, mimicking the elf's voice. "I've already told you that I can handle myself perfectly well in the kitchen, thank you very much! Please, leave now."

"Missy shouldn't be doin' mine duties, master punish Pharouthk!" The creature said with watery eyes.

"Draco won't hurt you. Why don't you go outside and enjoy the sunny day?" She said, turning her back on him, as she poured the mixture on the cake pan.

"This ain't good…na-ah…" The house elf muttered closing the kitchen doors behind him.

No matter how hard she tried to dissuade Draco from allowing her to do some of the house duties, he was absolutely against the idea: _'That's what the house elves are for!' _was the harsh answer he gave. But, as the days passed by, he allowed her to prepare a meal or so for he found himself hooked with the irresistible aroma and taste of her delicious cooking.

Unlike Draco, she was brought up in a family where every member helped out to pull the house together and after the death of her mother it was Luna the one in charge of almost everything.

She found hard to cope with her husband's lifestyle but she couldn't blame him for he had been raised that way, with countless house elves to serve him, living in luxurious mansions, that was the life of the Malfoys.

The haunting strawberry's aroma that was coming out from the kitchen caught the attention of another intruder: a tall and slender blond haired young man opened the door, leaning negligently against the doorframe with his arms crossed. Draco fixed his curious amethyst blue eyes at the beautiful tiny figure of Luna as she laid on the table's kitchen the now finished pie.

"Yummy!" He smirked without removing his eyes from her.

"Hold your compliments until you have a bite at it…" She greeted him removing the mittens from her hands.

"I was actually talking about another sweet treat." He cupped her chin in one hand and licked her flour stained cheek before pressing his lips against it with a feverish wet kiss.

"Semper eadem" (i) She blushed madly as he fixed her pearl grey eyes on him.

"Totus Tuus" (ii) He arched an eyebrow running his tongue over his lips.

The house elf walked behind them carrying a tray with the pie and a complete tea set for two.

The moment Luna took sit on the diner table, just in front of Draco, a small bird of beige coloured plumage came from the window: it was Luna's owl. It looked unusually agitated, making several circles above the dirty blond girl's head before releasing the letter that was holding tight in the beak.

"We've got a letter from dad!" She celebrated, smiling widely as she tore the envelope and scanned its content.

"What did he forget to tell us when came here two days ago?" Draco sighed and resumed eating the piece of pie in front of him.

"Draco, he's invited us to the opening of _The Quibbler's_ new Headquarters! He is expecting us to come by this afternoon, to take a tour and thank you properly for making it possible. He promises he will refund you the money you lend him as soon as the magazine starts selling." She said, her watery eyes were shining with gratitude.

"Don't mention it, he's your father, he owes me nothing." He soothed, leaning his head on his hand for a moment, staring at Luna from across the table.

Draco soon snapped out from his eating in silence trance by a strange noise coming from the ceiling. He gazed up with a killer look at the strange conduct of Luna's owl, the small creature continued to make circles around his wife's head. Seemed like the bird wanted to call her attention as Draco's owl entered the room with a package for him, joining the frenzy spectacle as a strange cloud of black and beige feathers started to fall all over the table.

"Draco, your owl is distressing her….again!" Luna cried, waving her hands in the air.

"Noir is a well trained owl and he perfectly knows how to behave. Is your pet's fault for she's constantly showing off!" He frowned, dropping his cutlery over the plate as he opened the package he had just received: it was a brand new set of Mr. Ollivander's deluxe designs: ten of the most exquisite wands for Draco to select. He rolled his eyes looking bored as he picked up one wand, feeling its weight and shape.

Luna snapped her head up, staring at him with a big red alert in her smoke grey wide eyes, looking like she is at the very edge of a breaking down crisis.

"Please, are you going to do something with that owl of yours?"

"No, but since I'd like to test this wand…" He paused and with a graceful twist he cast a spell aiming at his owl. "Descendo!"

The bird's immobilized body slowly came down to where Draco was sited, but the creature seemed very uneasy, twisting restlessly for freedom. As the blond released it from the spell, the owl scratched his cheek and flew off sight.

"Ouch, stupid owl and bloody useless wand!" He protested, throwing the wand into the box with the others.

Luna rushed by his side with a blanket on her hand and took sit on his lap, mothering him a little. It'd probably been a long time since anyone had mothered him. She blew softly on the scratch and pressed the cloth against his cheek.

"Kiss it and it will heal." He smirked, whispering softly.

Luna pressed her lips against the small wound and the scratch vanished within seconds.

"You've got to teach me how to perform that healing spell!" She demanded to know with awakened curiosity.

"I didn't use any spell. I told you, your kisses are magic." He said, resting one hand over her shoulder as he made its way to her neck spreading his fingers softly around it, massaging her smooth skin.

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The Quibbler's new building façade featured a strange and unique shape for it had tilted columns instead of vertical ones, creating an unusual soft swirl shape. A few people came in and out from the large crystal glass main entrance.

As the young couple climbed the stairs heading towards the main hall, a tall man dressed in flashy doorman's clothes opened the door, holding it up for them. Draco smirked unnaturally as he cautiously passed him by, holding tight Luna's hand as they walked through the entrance, heading further inside the room.

A humming sound came from the corner of the reception's desk, the murmurs were getting stronger from somewhere down the hall the moment Draco and Luna stepped in.

"Draco, Luna, welcome!" Greeted Mr. Lovegood with a bright smile squeezing tightly her daughter first, then he leaned towards Draco and hugged the slim body frame of his son-in-law with warm affection.

More people were coming from behind Luna's father with flashing smiles, extending their arms, shacking Draco's with tight grips. The young man's immutable facial expression was dropping by the minute; he wanted to get over with the circus once and for all. He rolled his eyes a couple of times during the guided tour looking bored as he continue to walk behind Luna and his father through the several workstations that varied in shape an size. He had to admit that despite the disrupted pattern of the stations, they followed an interesting balance of functionality and flexibility.

Luna's eyes glittered with enthusiasm as she looked as his father's dream materialized thanks to the generous contribution of Draco. On the other hand, when she rested her eyes on his husband, she noticed that he wasn't paying too much attention. He looked uneasy as he glanced with dull eyes at the alarmingly increasing number of people around him.

"Draco Malfoy, we'll be honoured it you concede us an interview." A soft female voice called from behind him.

Removing reluctantly his amethyst blue eyes from Luna, he turned and stared at the woman in front of him, slowly focusing on the physical presence. She was an elegant and good looking witch in her mid thirties and almost as tall as him. She had long black hair and was dressed in impeccable dark lilac. Her emerald eyes were flashing with amusement. She introduced herself, but all that Draco registered was her mouth moving making no sound at all for his mind was somewhere else.

"Not interested." Draco limited to reply as he turned his back at her, scanning the room in the search for his wife when the blinding flashes of a camera started assaulting him without mercy.

Luna looked at Draco from over her father's shoulder and winked at him.

In a few long strides, he reached her. Grabbing her by the arm, he pulled her closer as he rushed in her ear_. "Can we go now?!"_

"But we've just arrived! Dad was just telling me that they've got all set to make you an interview. Draco, this is your opportunity to tell your side of the story. That would be great for the magazine as well!" She held his hand tightly inside hers and kissed it briefly, visibly begging for him to accept.

Draco rubbed his eyes, still sore for the blinding lights of the camera and sight deeply. As he nodded his teeth snapped down on his tongue. He mentally cursed himself; he was going to regret it…badly. Luna waved back at him as he followed the witch in lilac through a straight corridor.

"Please take a sit." The witch offered kindly as she took place in front of him, holding against her chest a large notepad and a silver self-inking quill.

"Draco Malfoy, I happened to attend a party that your family held shortly after Umbridge's assumption to Headmaster at Hogwarts last year and let me tell you that you look…changed. Something in your eyes, there's a different light in them."

"Ma'am, your powers of observation serve you well." Draco tilted his head and looked at his interviewer the way he would look at a wounded creature giving its final breath.

She started writing on the notepad with an incredibly speedy pulse:

"For a teenager of seventeen, Draco Malfoy has a discerning and knowledgeable mind. A month and a half ago, when a massive attack carried by Dementors struck at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft, he saved the life of dozens of students with his crushing Patronus charm.

Shortly after, he confronted _He Who Must Not Be Named_ rescuing five prisoners from the claws of the Death Eaters, including three members of The Order of the Phoenix; Mr. Ollivander, the wand's maker and our most respectful editor Mr. Lovegood, in what turned out to be an extremely boldness performance. No matter which heroic exploit this intrepid young man leads in the future, rest assure there will be no defeat!"

"Which would you consider to be your defining personal qualities?" She asked, giving him a questioning look.

"To be meticulous and obsessive..."

"And your disadvantages?"

"...those very same ones." He sighed, this was going to be a complete waist of his time.

But the witch seemed not to pay attention at his bad predisposition and continued to take notes as she lifted her emerald green eyes once more.

"Can you tell us how your Patronus look like?" She narrowed her emerald green eyes, looking curious.

"It takes the corporeal form of a dragon." He replied, staring at her with a dark look.

She opened wide her eyes, her mouth literally hanging open.

"It's almost impossible for a young wizard to produce such devastating Partonus Charm for it requires very strong feelings and incredible magic powers, it's difficult to control and master it as well."

"I've confronted many challenges in my life. I guess I've ended up finding them rather amusing." A smirk of sardonic amusement played at the corner of his lips.

"So before you cast the charm, you looked inside yourself and what did you find?" She held her breath, eagerly anticipating any response from Draco.

"Desire…will power." He replied as he arched one eyebrow.

"You didn't return to Hogwarts after the Dementors attack, why is that?" She caressed her chin with the tip of her quill, looking down at her notes.

"I simply don't belong there…besides I've already took advantage of all what Hogwarts had to offer." He shot back, twirling the wedding ring on his finger with an unconscious gesture, and added. "There's nothing left that might interest me at that place, not anymore." He smirked, thinking about Luna.

"But you're planning on finishing your studies, right?" She lifted up her head, looking straight into his amethyst blue eyes.

"Yes, I'll hire private teachers for that matter." Draco replied as she stretched his back on the armchair, assuming a more comfortable position.

"So let's recap: You've risked your life to save five innocents kept captive by _He Who Must Not Be Named_. What made you do all that?" She opened wide her eyes, waiting for his reply.

Draco froze; his mind was ruminating over the wrenching memories of the past couple of weeks.

"I didn't risk my life to save them for I was unaware they had been captured. My purpose was a complete different one."

"Can you elaborate on that?" She frowned, trying to figure out his real motive.

"There were desperate times and desperate measures were called for, it was a matter of live or death." He cleared his throat briefly, crossing his arms.

"So it's true then that you've made all that to save the life of someone close to you?" She asked with alarming rapidity.

The blond didn't reply, instead he threw a cold stare at her, smirking with annoyance.

"Well, it must have been really serious; you've just said that it was a matter of life or death!" The witch looked exasperated by his silence.

"A beloved always is." He said calmly.

"And who would that be?" Her voice denoted a high-pitch of curiosity.

"I'd rather not reveal details about my personal life." He replied as he leaned against the headrest of the armchair.

"I was told you had all the answers!" She complained, scratching nervously her chin.

"I do, trouble is…I'm not here to amuse you." He shot back, looking bored.

She turned another page on the notepad and started scribbling again.

"This proves that you let yourself be driven by your passions." She said, raising her gaze to meet his.

"Like everybody else." Draco paused, straightening his posture on the couch and added."Emotionally intense forces can't be rationalized".

The witch nodded in silence, he was right.

"After the incident, you were admitted at St. Mungo's hospital for physical and psychic evaluation. You were afraid of losing your mind after what happened to you?" She didn't look at him this time, partially hiding her face behind her notes.

"We all go a little mad sometimes, and sometimes just one time can be enough…! Draco's voice trailed off, he was lost in his thoughts.

"But what did the medi-wizards say to you?"

"I couldn't care less… I've skipped the psych evaluation." He smirked, waving a hand on the air carelessly.

"Basically you've checked out claiming you're unaffected by all that happened. Do you consider yourself to be in your sane mind…you're…normal then?" She leaned closer, looking at him with an intrigued stare.

"No, I'm not, because _being normal_ is not necessarily a virtue, it rather denotes a lack of courage." He shook his head, closing for a brief moment his eyes.

"Talking about courage, you've killed You Know Who's vicious pet, Nagini and put and end as well to the life of Bellatrix Lestrange, a Death Eater and your…aunt...if I'm correct."

"You're the journalist…why must I back up your information when you already know the facts?" He frowned, unwilling to confirm his interviewer the obvious.

"Blood has been shed: this is going to change everything in your life." She pursed her lips and looked at him in silence.

"I'm used to confront extreme situations: nothing had changed." He smirked with scepticism, lifting an eyebrow.

"How do you feel about the death of Bellatrix Lestrange?" She asked, holding tight the quill for her hand was shaking a bit.

"I don't understand the question." He shook his head.

"I assume you know the difference between good and evil, right?" She pursed her lips and frowned.

"Yes, one stands for power the other for weakness." He replied, not exactly in the order she questioned.

"You definitely know how to weigh means, but how about measuring ends? Did you have seconds thought about what you've done?" The witch continued with the fixed idea of Draco's killings inside her mind.

"Some are good for fighting, others for dying. In a war you need both, I guess." Draco replied, combing his hair back with his fingers and added. "I never have second thoughts regarding the things I do."

"What is it you expect _He Who Must Not Be Named_ do next?" Her emerald green eyes denoted a certain amount of tension.

The blond took a big breath and replied. "That depends whether Potter is willing to stand up and fight or hide while others continue to risk their lives and die in vain."

"After your heroic performances, your name is being more and more linked with Harry Potter, how does that make you feel?"

"Let's get this straightened out right now. There can be no point of comparison between that….between Potter and me. There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path. Chose the first choice and you'll end up where you started... chose the second and you'll end up in a different place. Potter leaves everything to fate; I give fate a hand. His compassion is his weakness, something that none of his enemies will share, I've got no compassion therefore I'm not weak."

It took the witch a couple of minutes to process what Draco had just said, shocked to find that she had struck a nerve.

"You consider yourself to be Harry Potter's enemy then?"

"It's a great thing when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself and everybody else around you." He said, strangely unperturbed.

"What are you going to do now?" She looked at him with an expectant look.

"Be more than just a threat in the mind of my opponent." He sneered.

"Meaning?" The witch tilted her head, looking puzzled.

"Getting ready while expecting the worst…Having said that ma'am, this interview is over."

Draco's patience was almost non-existent at that point: he had to get out of there. He brushed his hands against his sweater and headed to the exit.

"Please, wait, any advice for our readers?!" The witch called out.

"I'd rather not." He muttered with clenched teeth.

"Something you'd like to add as final comment, please?" She begged him.

"Sanity is the weakest instrument of warfare." He shot back, pushing the door open, leaving his interviewer with her mouth open.

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A/N

(i)Semper eadem (Latin): Always the same.

(ii) Totus Tuus (Latin): Totally yours.

What do you think about this sequel? Do you like the story so far? Please leave your review in order to know if it's worthy or not...otherwise I guess I'll stop posting new chaps if there is zero interest.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER III

**CHAPTER III **

"_I'm sorry that I hurt you  
It's something I must live with everyday  
And all the pain I put you through  
I wish that I could take it all away  
And be the one who catches all your tears  
That's why I need you to hear._

I've found out a reason for me  
To change who I used to be  
A reason to start over new  
and the reason is You."

_(__HOOBASTANK - "The Reason")_

The so called _Recreation Area_ was one of the last rooms Draco made built at the Chateau, it resembled a large stage with polished wood parquet floor and the walls were divided into mirror plaques and see-through glass cut panels with a breathtaking view of the Topiary Garden. This area was originally designed to be a place for leisure, but soon become the perfect spot for Draco and Luna to attend their classes.

A plump old witch dressed in pale turquoise and dark lilac, no much taller than her student, threw an accusing stare at the dirty blond haired girl she got in front of her.

'"Well, what are you waiting for?" She asked, placing one hand on her voluptuous hips and the other aiming at the large reptile pacing on the centre of the room.

"I can't, that's Dark Magic!" Luna looked mortified, waving her hands to her sides looking frustrated.

"In a black-and-white world distinctions between good and evil become questioned all the time, but there are always grey areas. Not all conflicts are based on good versus evil. Killing is an evil act but if you happen to kill someone to save yourself, tell me, do you become evil then? Yes? No? The very same moment you made up your mind and decide to protect yourself from an imminent death, you're making a choice: you must go on living and your threat must die. So tell me, is it evil to think that you always have to come first, no matter who you might end up killing?" The old witch explained, becoming immediately irritated with Luna.

"I guess not…" She mumbled weakly.

"Okay, let's try some basics instead. Let's start with the _Melting Spell_, shall we?"

"You mean frying that poor creature? No, I simply can't do that either!" Luna said as she squeezed her eyes shut.

"Oh no! The spell is supposed to be cast on a surface, melting it, so that anyone entering the area or caught in it when the spell is cast would first slip and fall and then get caught in it like quicksand. The magic word is _Fundo_ and you must wield your wand following an S shape, like this." She showed Luna the movement but waited for her to cast the spell.

The girl nodded and held her wand high, following the teacher's instructions. "Fundo!"

The poor creature didn't know what it hit the ground beneath its feet, but it was soon sinking in some strange wood colour waters.

"Well done Luna!" The old witch encouraged her with a smile lifting her round cheeks.

"Now let's try the _Shocking Grasp Spell_. When you cast this spell, you develop a powerful electrical charge into your hand that gives a jolt to the creature, witch or wizard you touch. First you must aim your wand towards your hand and waive it with a zig-zag movement saying _Contactus_, okay?" The old woman explained to her student with a soft voice.

Luna nodded in silence, looking extremely focused on her pursue.

"Now we need a volunteer, please dear, call your house elf." The woman let go a sound sigh while tapping the wand gently on her forehead.

"But, I don't want to hurt him…" Luna's pearl grey eyes were already watering.

"Darling, house elves are used to a lot worse, trust me." The old witch said, trying to sooth her.

Closing shut her eyes she called out with a soft voice. "Parout".

"Na-ah… it's "Pharouthk", that's mine name." The house elf corrected as soon as he apparated a few inches from her.

"I'm so sorry, please forgive me Farouk…" Luna got closer and squeezed the creature's shoulder gently as a silvery ray of light erupted from her hand knocking the poor creature against the wall.

The house elf regained his breath trying to stand up and spoke with humility. "No worries missy…and it's Phar…ouch!"

"Professor, can we try something that doesn't involve inflicting pain into others, please?" Luna begged to the old witch.

"Sure we can try that. Mr. Malfoy asked me to teach you all sorts of attack, protection and defence spells. Have you heard about the _Protective Wall Charm_?" He lifted her eyes and rested on Luna's puzzled face as she added. "I thought so. When this spell is cast, it creates a magical barrier around the recipient at a distance of one foot. The barrier moves with the recipient and has two major effects: first to block a spell, curse or jinx and second to rebound it to the attacker. The magic word is _Parietis _and you must cast it all around you, following a circle movement with your wand."

Luna did as instructed; she took a big breath and took position as she cast the protection spell all around her.

"Locomotor Mortis!" As soon as the Leg-Locker curse came out from the old witch's wand it rebounded and projected its way towards the woman who quickly cast a protection spell to negate the effects of getting her thick legs petrified.

"Merlin! That was simply great!" Luna was jumping up and down with excitement.

"Indeed, it can be cast moments before an expected attack or when fearing danger is near. It can last about a quarter of an hour after being cast but it vanished soon after it contra-attacks." The witch fixed her judging eyes on Luna and managed to curl her lips with a faint of smile.

"There is a very useful spell for protection called _Alarm Spell_, once it is cast in a selected area it reacts to the presence of any creature larger than a normal mice. As soon as any creature enters the warded area, touches it, or otherwise contacts it without speaking a password established by the caster, the _Alarm __Spell_ lets out a loud ringing that can be heard clearly within a sixty foot radius. The caster can dismiss the alarm with a single word."

The old witch held her wand up high as she cast the spell "Cautela!"

"What kind of noise does it activate exactly?" Asked Luna shortly before a buzzing sound started to resound on the room.

"Thank you Sir for stopping by and show us how works the spell." The plump woman greeted, looking over Luna's shoulder.

Luna turned her head, finding her eyes drawn to the slender male figure dressed in black, leaning against the doorframe. It was no other than Draco, with a mocking smirk curling his lips.

"Hello ladies…" He said with a dangerously seductive smirk on his lips.

Draco stepped into the room and stopped a few inches from where his wife was standing, locking his amethyst blue eyes with her pearl grey ones.

"Usus est magister optimus (i)" He slid one hand over her shoulder and rested it there, rubbing his slender fingers around it with softness.

"Vera … (ii)"Luna found herself blushing in a silly way.

He sighed, curling a strayed dirty blond hair strand behind her ear.

"Want to see something funny?" Without waiting for a reply from either of the two women on the room, he lifted his wand aiming towards the house elf that lied quietly on a corner.

"Caecus!" The curse hit the creature like a bolt of lighting, leaving it completely blind and defenceless.

"That's called the _Eyebite Curse_ and here comes the funny part…" He pointed the wand once more at the elf as he cast another curse. "Falsus Comburo!"

The helpless elf started to run in circles trying to extinguish the false fire cast by his master.

"_With this jinx you can smell that__ something's burning around you, but as you can see, it's harmless…" _He whispered into her ear as he leaned close to her.

"Aeris Contamino!" And soon after he finished the words, a thick wall of fog filled the entire room.

Luna felt his strong arms encircling her tiny waist, pulling her closer to him in a tight embrace. She couldn't see anything in front of her nose, but she soon caught sight of Draco's moist lips brushing her mouth.

"_I'm burning too, trouble is…I'm not harmless." _He murmured to her, running his tongue over her lips before kissing her fully in the mouth with both tenderness and passion.

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The largest room of the Chateau was the library. Draco kept there thousands of books, many of them where the ones he managed to retrieve from Malfoy's Manor right under the noses of The Order of the Phoenix's raid for they were mostly Lucius books: Dark Magic books, therefore confiscated material.

There were only two places where Draco used to spend his time the most, and if he wasn't with his wife he would certainly be at the library. But that night who happened to be there was no other than Luna. Her body was comfortably aligned over the furry carpet displayed in front of a gorgeous fireplace. She had taken her sneakers off and was feeling the soft fur of the carpet with her bare feet as she turned the pages of the book in front of her. Several other volumes lied besides her, dangerously piled one against the other resembling twisted shaped towers. Her pale silvery grey eyes danced up and down the ornate font of the parchments and were getting narrowed by the minute as she turned the pages. She was finding disturbingly useful Draco's questionable book collection: she had learnt in just a few couple of days the amount of information that would regularly took about half a year to impart back at Hogwarts.

"So here is where you've been hiding from me?" Draco yelled as he closed the door behind him with a loud noise, but soon the annoyance turned into frustration. "Luna, haven't you heard me calling for you the last half hour?"

"If that were the case, Draco, I would have answered your call and rushed to meet you right away." She looked up at him, with a mellow facial gesture, backing up her apologetic explanation.

There was a silent moment, seemed like Draco was trying to find the right words, phrases to reply as he took a big breath to ease his distress. He walked towards her and took sit on an armchair right in front of Luna.

"Sweetheart, I can suggest some interest reading, if you're interested." He said, this time with a tint of softness in his words.

"Thanks, but no thanks. The private teacher you've hired gave me plenty to work with already. I'm trying to keep up with her strict regime." She replied, swallowing hard.

"Really? I was thinking that old lady was a bit lame for teaching, she really bored me. I've already knew the things she meant to teach me. I'll hire another teacher for me, I hope this time it works out as well as it does for you." He smirked, arching an eyebrow.

"Draco _know-it-all_ Malfoy, I truly envy you! I can hardly manage to absorb all the things she taught me today!"

Luna closed shut the book and straighten up her body, embracing her legs against her chest with both arms.

"Luna, you've improved a lot. I'm impressed." His amethyst blue eyes were filled with proud. One thing was certain: Draco had never doubted her abilities.

"Then why don't we go out more often, we've spent a nice time at the magazine's headquarters the other day, right?" She shrugged.

He shook violently his head and frowned. "I won't risk your safety again for anything in the world. I won't let you out of my sight until you're ready and well trained to defend yourself against anything that might arise."

"Why are you so paranoid about the world outside these walls? Let me tell you that you give me creeps when you start talking like this." She bit her lip, staring at him with a worried look.

"I need to put my mind at ease for good when it comes to my wife's life and if that means I've got to be overprotective, so be it!"

They looked at each other full in the face. Draco looked relaxed on the outside, but what was going on inside him was another story: he was a tight knot of racking nerves.

"Draco, you're not listening. Please put some faith in me and stop treating me like some broken and helpless thing!" She protested with a frown.

"I'll ignore what you've just said. Luna, you've got to put an end, once and for all, at your constant childish outbursts for you leave me no option but to be your constant shadow!" He said slightly agitated as he pulled back his hair with one hand.

The truth was that he actually enjoyed being around her 24/7, exposing her vulnerability was an excuse for him to be in control. Draco was a man of habit. Without the structure of his daily existence, his life would become unbearably frightening. Control was everything.

"What else do want from me, my soul?" Luna shot back with a blank look on her face.

"Why not? I deserve that much." He smirked at his own words, which sounded selfish, even to his own ears, but he looked deadly serious.

She frowned and lifted her body from the floor, rearranging her t-shirt and the cotton striped pants she was wearing, looking annoyed.

"You've married me just because you wanted another thing to add to your vast collection of prizes? I'm nothing but another treasure of yours, something to keep on a shelf and look at from time to time?" She yelled with accumulated burden on her voice.

"You become so easily agitated sometimes, honestly…." He sighed, piling up all the patience he had left, feeling rather exhausted as he lifted up from the floor.

"_Beware of his possessiveness for it's not protection and his ravenous surveillance is not love…_" Trelawney's words resounded inside her head.

"I've committed a huge mistake misjudging who you really were…" She paused, shivering slightly.

"Luna, you get so emotional for everything. What's wrong with you lately?" Draco continued to try to reason with her in an incredibly attempt to extend the limits of his patience.

"Don't get any closer! I don't know you anymore!" She confronted him with boldness born out of fear.

"You've always knew very well who I was, why do you look so surprised now?"

For several seconds, Draco just stared at her. She stared at him, dumbfounded, lost.

"Dulcissime, totam tibi subdo me! (iii)" He could sense his anger warming slowly his temper.

"Noli me tangere! (iv)" Luna's mortification haunted her body.

"You're my wife and my blood runs through your veins. It's time for you to get used to the idea, once and for all, that you're mine and you're part of me as well!" He took her arm, shaking it slowly.

"Poison is running through my veins!" She recoiled, feeling sick.

"It was a matter of time, sweetheart, when you'll wish you never met me."

Draco knew that his contained and limited self-control was fading away. He was just one step closer to the edge of losing his temper.

"I'm already there: I never thought I would live to tell!" She shot back with exasperation in her trembling voice.

His heart missed a beat. "Come again?! You're implying that you've married me because you never happened to think much of a future together since you were going to die?!"

Luna froze; she was standing in front of Draco, twisting her hands together anxiously.

"Don't expect too much, and you won't be disappointed, many end up unhappy rather than pleased when their options expand! When you have no options, what can you do? You will feel disappointment…maybe….regret….no! But when you actually count with too many to choose from, the chances to feel miserable increase! Am I right Luna!?"

Finally, he snapped out, unleashing his emotions. Draco's heart was pounding faster and his pale face was turning a bright shade of red, he was gasping for air.

"Please Draco stop doing that, you're scaring me!" Luna looked up at him, through moist eyes.

She slightly recoiled from him, looking visibly frightened around her as the furniture and some books from the stands started to fly through the air.

"I'm not doing anything!" He shot back, looking helpless.

But when he looked around and realized what was happening, things started to tumble down to the ground back in place.

"I know what you did to me: it all came back to my mind at last. There are no words to describe what you did to me." She didn't look at him this time while Draco couldn't stop staring at her; the white of his eyes were reddening with anger.

"You perfectly know what I'm capable of doing when I want something badly, like you." He replied, his words sounded vaguely threatening.

"Including breaking me in like an animal?! I'd rather die than be submitted to that torture and abuse!" She gave him an icy stare.

"The end justifies the means." He replied, strangely unperturbed.

"Wrong answer…"

Luna's chin quivered; she was on the verge of tears again. There was a lump in her throat that kept her from pronouncing another word. She pushed Draco from her way and ran towards the corridor, slamming the closest door she came across behind her.

He jogged out the entrance where Luna ran out just a moment ago, pointing his wand to the side of his neck. "Sonorus!"

He paused, throwing a killing stare at the door.

"Go ahead and blame me for everything, I don't care. But you've got to listen to yourself. You talk about death like it's nothing when we both perfectly know how devastating is to lose someone we love like a mother. Tell me then if you wouldn't have tried the impossible to prevent her from dying, I know I would but with my mother I hadn't got the chance. With you, the story was different so I did what I had to in order to save your life!" He sounded like he was pretty frantic.

A stab of pain shot through her soul, she knew and feared that tone of his. Luna closed her eyes, leaning against the wall, breathing heavily, as she tried to regain her posture.

There was a faint tap at the door.

"Alright already! Luna, open the damn door." He said, slightly annoyed.

"Leave me alone!" She cried. Her head hit the door with a thump as she pressed her body against it and let herself slide to the floor, hugging herself tight as she tried to stop from trembling.

"I simply refuse to consider that possibility! Since day one, since the very moment we cross out paths, forces pulled us together. Luna, this connection that we share and rules our lives would literally kill us if we deny it! Why can't you understand that you just can't throw it all away because it's impossible to break our bond: you and I are forever, I decide when forever ends!"

Draco blasted open the door of the Trophy's Room and glanced around helplessly. The window was open: Luna was gone along with his Firebolt.

"Damnit!" Draco's vision blurred, adding a strange sense of vulnerability to the scrambled emotions he was feeling already.

That was when every glass panel of the display cabinets and windows, every crystal item on the shelves, and every single porcelain plate on the wall of the Trophy's Room shattered inexplicable into million splinters leaving Draco completely perplexed, without being able to move a single muscle of his body from his astonishment.

Pointing once more his wand to the side of his neck, he said "Quietus!" as the volume of his voice returned to normal.

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**A/N**

**If you want to know what happens next...owl me your reviews! ;)**

Fundo (Latin): Melt, cast.

Contactus (Latin): Touching, contact

Parietis (Latin): Wall.

Cautela (Latin): Precaution, security.

(i) Usus est magister optimus (Latin):Practice is the best teacher.

(ii) Vera … (Latin): True…

Caecus (Latin): blind, sightless.

Falsus (Latin): false, deceptive.

Comburo (Latin): to burn up, to ruin, consume.

Aeris (Latin): Air, atmosphere.

Contamino (Latin): To pollute.

(iii) Dulcissime, totam tibi subdo me! (Latin): Darling, I give myself to you totally!

(iv) Noli me tangere (Latin):Do not touch me!

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	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER IV

**CHAPTER IV**

"_Where will I meet my fate?  
Baby I'm a man, I was born to hate.  
And when will I meet my end?  
In a better time you could be my friend._

_I wake up, it's a bad dream, no one on my side  
I was fighting, but I just feel too tired to be fighting  
Guess I'm not the fighting kind  
Wouldn't mind it if you were by my side  
But you're long gone, yeah you're long gone now.__"_

_(KEANE – "A Bad Dream")  
_

Draco's stylized silhouette came into view once he stepped out from the fireplace of the Chateau's library. The Floo Network was the last method of transport he would use, but under the circumstances, and after recurring to all of the others, that was the last one he used in his pursue to find out Luna's whereabouts. He shook off the dirt from the dark blue suit he was wearing, swallowing hard. He'd been out for about three days in a row searching for his wife, with no luck whatsoever. He hadn't slept or ate since she ran away: the weariness on his body was becoming visible for he was walking unsteady. He stumbled dispirited into the bedroom, throwing his clothes on the floor and kicking his shoes off without paying any attention to where they land and crashed down on the bed. He reached out for Luna's pillow and hugged it; burying his face in it as he breathed in her scent. He then crawl up in a foetal position and covered himself with the sheets. He started to twist and turn, but finally dozed off, sleeping really badly. Draco's breathing was fast and followed an unsteady pattern. His mind was drifting in a pool of despair and confusion. Disturbing memories are one thing and nightmares, well, they are a completely different kind of trauma.

Draco found himself locked up inside a dark room. Feeling lost and scared, he desperately reach out for his wand but someone must have taken it without his knowing for he was disarmed. The sound of laughter echoing distortedly on the walls was becoming maddening. He looked around nervously, trying to locate the source of the mocking laughter, he couldn't see a thing but he could feel that some strange viscous liquid was dripping from the ceiling down in him. He was trapped and there was no exit whatsoever, he started to panic, slamming the walls, trying to get out. He could hear some faint footsteps silently touching ground, coming towards him.

"Stupefy!"

Draco felt a sharp stinging impact on his left shoulder that send him flying away, crashing hard on the ground, laying face down.

"Sectumsempra!"

His slender and exhaust body was whipped repeatedly, tears started running down his face from the pain, deep cuttings appeared on his back from which blood started running down to the floor. As Draco tried to get up, a foot kicked him down, nailing him to the ground again. He collapsed, bloodied and soiled. He could hear a faint voice whispering incoherently.

"Lumos!"

Lucius mocking face came into view approaching Draco with great determination as he started shouting at his son, though no words came from his mouth this time. Instead, a sharp distorted low pitch hiss accompanied the movements of his lips as he pointed his hand at the ceiling where Narcissa's bloody covered body was chained, twisting uncontrollably. Suddenly, she started jerking in pain to the sound of a whip. The invisible whip-lashing continued as blood was splashing up all over her body.

"Stop hurting her!" Draco roared with desperation in his voice as his face turned into an enraged reddish colour, he was sweating profusely.

Lucius released her from the curse, freeing her from the chains as he kneeled beside Draco, reaching out for his hand.

"Then do as I say and don't you dare to question me ever again!" He grabbed Draco's hand and pulled him from the ground with a violent shook, pushing his son's torn body against his chest.

Lucius forced him to take a few steps towards a smoky window panel that reflected their silhouettes: Draco looked no older than seven years, his battered and bruised humanity was shaking violently against his father's robust body frame.

"Embrace your destiny once and for all: you'll be trained to become a Death Eater." A smile of sardonic amusement played at the corner of Lucius lips.

"YES I'LL DO IT! Just don't hurt mother…please take it out on me instead!" Draco backed away from his father, finding himself trapped against the wall.

"Remember, one false move from you and she dies...this time, I mean it!" Lucius shot back in what seemed to be a deadly threat.

Draco nodded, rushing to meet his mother that lied on the floor. He looked up at her through his pearl grey eyes filled with tears.

"_I promise you, mother, that I won't let him hurt you again." _He soothed her holding tight in his small arms.

"Draco, you're my only son. I can't let your father corrupt your innocence and purity, I simply can't…" Narcissa looked at him blankly with her large, glassy eyes.

He cuddled against her chest, sobbing softly. "I don't care. I just don't want to lose you!"

Draco felt a soft hand cupping his chin, lifting his head softly as she leaned closer to his ear.

"You won't lose me Draco. I'll always be there for you. I love you."

He opened his eyes and saw that the fragile female body he was holding was not his mother's, but Luna's. She was bleeding profusely from her open wounds. Draco shook his head with disbelief at what he was seeing.

"But, I've saved you, this can't be happening again!" His cold grey blood shot eyes redden even more with maddening desperation.

Luna's pale amethyst blue eyes were slowly shutting down; she was trying in vain to keep them open. Over his wife's lap laid the ceremonial dagger he used for the rite. Luna leaned close to his ear, whispering something hardly audible.

"Draco, take a look at yourself and what you've become." She hissed with difficulty pointing at the window.

He picked her weakened body from the floor and walked towards the window, holding his wife's body tight in his strong arms. What Draco saw reflected in that smoky stained glass panel was terrifying: Narcissa's dead body being held in the arms of Lucius Malfoy. Draco blinked twice and looked up once more at their reflection, this time it was himself carrying Luna's battered body on his arms.

Then a crushing sound numbed his senses, forcing him to shut down his eyes.

"_Come to the water, and find me there_." He heard someone hissing inside his head.

Draco spun over the edge of the bed, landing hard on the floor in a pile of sweat and entwined bed sheets. He woke up from the fall and tried to get rid of the mess of those sheets around him, climbing back into bed. He sighed and leaned back against the headrest. He awoke with a pounding head and a lot of disorientation. He looked around, trying to come to terms with his current whereabouts. He then sited up in bed and breathed heavily, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a sheet. That had been his first nightmare since he arrived at the Chateau with Luna. Just when he thought he'd never suffer from a bad night sleep in his life, it all came back to haunt him. It was clear to him that it was a message from his mother, trying to reach him for she had been deprived of due burial and therefore she was a restless spirit.

He got up and stretched his legs a bit; walking around the clothes he threw on the floor before going to sleep, heading to the window. It was too early in the morning, he probable had slept a few couple of hours and the sun hadn't come out yet. The morning would soon arrive, he couldn't stop thinking about Luna and where she could have gone. He turned away from the window as a sudden sickness came over him. He rushed to the bathroom, twisting his body over the sink, throwing up. He wiped his sickness from his lips, breathing heavily to calm himself. He gave an uneasy glance to the mirror, noticing how pathetic he looked, then glanced at the vomit and flushed it. Then he undressed and stepped inside the bathtub, the water felt luxuriously warm and the stream was powerful. His shower was long and exquisite and as he stepped out he felt relaxed at last.

Draco heard the annoying nasal voice of the house elf calling from behind as he finished dressing. The creature looked truly worried for not having seen him the last couple of days. Despite Draco's harsh and rude manners towards the house elf, he was somewhat the most sympathetic master the creature ever knew, taking into account that he served Lucius before.

The blonde's amethyst blue eyes narrowed a bit as he looked at the house elf in a state of trance without paying attention to what the creature was saying for all he could hear was the faulty tonality and inflection of the sounds coming from the elf's mouth. The soothing shower was slowly awakening his senses one by one, which maybe explained why his stomach rumbled in demand for nourishment.

"Pharouthk, fix me something to eat. I'm starving here!" That's all the blond said before turning his back to the house elf and finish buttoning his shirt.

Draco looked his reflection on the mirror, he got a dark shade around his eyes and his complexion was paler than ever. He pulled some moist blond blocks from his forehead and froze for a few minutes, looking mesmerized at those amethyst blue eyes, Luna's eyes. He never thought the change would affect him in a bad way for that stigma was a reminder of their unique connection, but also was a reminder of a sacrifice that was originally meant to bond their bodies and minds forever but ironically was pulling them apart.

The pink colour of his lips was almost gone, as he ran his tongue over them, closing his eyes. He couldn't stop thinking about Luna, getting desperate for not being able to kiss her. He had to find her for he refused to spend another day without her.

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The moment Draco stepped into the dining room, Noir entered from the window and started making strange sounds while flapping the wings drawing circles in the air around his master. The blond looked up suspiciously, mumbling through his annoyance as he walked behind the bird for it was pretty obvious that the owl wanted to show him something, and it looked important.

Draco stopped right in front of his pet's cage, seemed that Noir's golden palace was usurped by Luna's owl, proudly nesting her eggs as Noir cupped her between his wings in a protective way.

"Noir, you've knocked up Luna's owl?" The blond froze all of a sudden but then he let go a sigh and rolled his eyes.

"You nasty little one….yeah, that's my boy!" He said to the owl in a childlike tone as he caressed those silk black feathers on the bird's back before returning to the dining room with a mocking smirk curling his pale lips.

He sank into his armchair looking at the huge breakfast in front of him: tea, juice, pancakes, honey, syrup, scrambled eggs, some fruit and lemon flavour muffins: his favourites. He grabbed a cup of tea and placed a muffing over the plate. He looked around the table for the wands case from Mr. Ollivander, he had only tested half, none of them with satisfactory results for they couldn't manage to properly channel his powerful magic. The blond was seriously trying to find a replacement for his original wand, the one that Bellatrix destroyed. He wasn't at all convinced in continuing to use Lucius' wand despite that it was the only one that managed to cope with him so far.

He pulled out a wand from the case and pointed at the pastry.

"Severius!"

But the muffin didn't get sliced in pieces as expected, it simply explode into several crumbs. He threw once again the wand in the case and rolled his eyes looking slightly annoyed.

Draco picked up a crumb, inspecting it closely before placing it inside his mouth. The taste was fairly good, but it was certainly no match to what Luna's cooking tasted like. He then started playing with the muffin, eating a crumb every now and then. Pushing the plate away from him, he picked up an apple with resentment between his fingers and gave it a bite while tapping the tea cup with the other hand, lost in thoughts. Out of the corner of his eye, he detected a low, slinking movement at his right.

"Incarcerous!" Draco's stunning reflexes gave no time for his attacker to react.

"AHHH!" There was a loud thud, like something or someone fall to the floor, painfully.

Without lifting himself from where he was sitting, Draco summoned his tied up prey, looking rather tense and fully alert, crushing the apple he still held on his hand.

The blond gasped, releasing immediately his friend from the trap. "Blaise, is that you?!"

"Yeah, it's me! What's the matter with you?" Blaise dark eyes opened wide at the initial shock of the assault. "Didn't your house elf alert you about my presence?" The black jet haired young man stared in disbelief at his mate.

Draco then realized that was probably what the creature meant to inform him earlier. He cleaned his right hand from squeezing the fruit with his bare palm and held it out. Blaise grasped it with a camaraderie handshake: both young men interlaced their thumbs while pressing the finger's tops against the other partner's wrist.

"And you said you didn't have a girlie scream!" Draco smirked, inviting his friend to take a sit. "What are you doing here?"

"Merlin, you look like crap!" He said, taking a closer look at Draco as he summoned a chair.

The blond didn't reply, waving one of the new wands negligently through the air testing it without much luck for the Flagrate Charm started exploding uncontrollably in thousand of firey lines within a hundred foot radius from where he was sited.

"I came back from my…_holidays_…early this morning and I thought to make a stop in France and check out on you two." Blaise said casually as he helped himself with a cup of tea and stirred up honey at a couple of pancakes with his free hand.

Draco sighed, throwing the wand back in the case with the rest. He crossed his arms concluding that all those wands were simply useless.

"Draco, this place is awesome but it's a pain in the arse getting all the way into here. I've followed all the instructions you've gave me the last time we saw and I've barely made it alive! Let me tell you, this is worse than trying to smuggle a Gringotts' vault!" He shrugged.

"That's the idea…" Draco's lips curled with a morbid smirk. "This Chateau happened to be the first of the places I made built right after Lucius arrest. There's a Manson in Germany being erected in the exact place my mother used to take me during holidays. I'm planning to name it after her and move in there with Luna once it's finished."

"It's a wonderful idea of perpetuating Narcissa's memory." Blaise's smile was tainted with sadness for his friend.

"Yes..." Draco said with a pitch of tension in his voice.

Noticing the blurred veil in the blonde's eyes, he decided to change the angle of the conversation completely. "Well, are you going to tell me that you happy to see me or what? I missed you…guys."

"Blaise, why did you drop out school?" The blond arched an eyebrow, changing the subject completely.

"Look who's talking!" Blaise looked slightly annoyed.

"You perfectly know why I did it, what's your excuse?" Draco frowned, looking serious at his friend.

Blaise smoothed back his black jet hair, taking a big breath. "You were too busy trying to save your wife to notice, but my mother got married again and her new hubby, a wealthy wizard who happens to live in Greece wanted us to move there. At first it was great but then I started to miss a lot of things, I guess I was a little homesick."

"So, where are you staying now?" Draco asked casually as he stretched his back on the armchair.

Blaise opened wide his eyes looking at his mate, paralysed, unable to speak for a few minutes and then he looked really, really pissed off.

"I'm your secret keeper, best man and best friend. How about some hospitality, damnit?!" He said, trying with all his might to refrain himself from slamming his fist against the table.

"You're implying that you've invited yourself to stay here while you figure out what to do with your life?" Draco asked venomously.

"Hell yeah!!" Blaise shot back euphorically. Then, adjusting his tense facial complexion, he added. "How's Luna?"

Draco shrugged and sighed deeply. "What's the phrase?_ She isn't quite herself lately_. Right, that pretty much resumes the situation."

"Women! So what did you two argue about?" Blaise lifted one eyebrow, looking bored.

"You name it, we fight over it." Draco replied with slight sarcasm.

"So…where's this wife of yours? Still asleep or maybe locked up in the basement until she behaves, or what?" Blaise asked, looking curious around the room for any sign of her.

"She's not here, she…ran away." Draco rolled his eyes, he was feeling more annoyed and frustrated by the minute.

"What?!" Blaise dropped the butter knife and opened wide his eyes, looking perplexed.

"I came to the conclusion that communication is nothing but a series of little conflicts. Luna and I are facing one stressful conflict right now and we'll solve it if she condescends to show up!" Draco's fist slammed hard on the table.

"Draco, you've got to admit that Luna was always a little _loony_, you know…" He made a _cuckoo _gesture with one finger.

"Just name someone who's in his right mind." He paused, waiting for Blaise to answer, but he didn't pronounce a word for Draco was right.

"To a greater or lesser extent, we're all insane." The blond smirked, twirling the wedding ring on his finger.

"Okay then, but why did she take off?" Blaise asked as he poured some more tea on his cup.

"Because she temporally lost her focus, she's not seeing things the way I do. I never met anyone more flighty, more prone to melodrama, more… ethereal. So many hormones exist in her bloody emotional tears! Whenever I confront her she develops the very same pattern: she cries, screams, shrieks, sobs then she takes a big breath, whimpers a little and repeats the circle all over again! Crying is a way to manipulate others, and she pulls it out extremely well." Draco clenched his fists over the table, throwing a stabbing stare at Blaise.

"Manipulative? Well, you've got to admit, she's becoming more and more like you mate." Blaise shot back with scepticism.

Draco's face got whiter, if that was possible for his skin already resembled a paper white colour.

"I meant that as compliment." Blaise said, sounding like he was trying to excuse himself.

"Trouble is…that things are not going exactly as planned." The blonde's head hung slightly tilted to one side, looking tired. "Luna is becoming unpredictable and unstable, fluctuating rapidly between moods, between loving and hating. She's not being objective lately, for her is _all-good_ or _all-bad_ these days."

"Meaning you're visible _all-bad_ for her, what did you do exactly?"

Draco looked burdened; his thoughts were running non-stop inside his head. It was hard to answer that one to Blaise, but he decided to do so, holding back on the gory details, if that was possible. It has been a month since the_ incident_, since he granted Luna the ultimate gift, to have a second chance and live. Somehow those memories that hovered on the fringes of her consciousness came to light. All those unpleasant bits of memory came to her one by one. Once the big picture was completed inside her, she finally snapped out, unable to understand the true meaning of Draco's actions: to stop her from dying.

"So the _healing_ process turned out to be the outbreak of her trauma. What doesn't kill you simply makes you…_stranger_?" Blaise asked, as he cleared his throat looking unusually calm.

"I tried my best to protect her, but I was unable to protect her from….myself." The blond said as he managed a tired smirk.

"To be honest, I don't understand Luna. If I were in her place I'd never have said to my lover: _stop, if you love me, please stop…_ not in a thousand years because that's exactly what love truly means…complete surrender." Blaise gave a vague smile, looking straight into that blue amethyst pool of Draco's eyes.

"Blaise…" He paused, swallowing painfully. "...sometimes I think you talk just to make sounds."

Draco said, cursing himself for addressing his friend so coldly, but he wanted to make a point and get things back in track to the original course of the conversation: Luna.

"Yeah…you're right."

Seemed that Blaise was trying to find the strength to go on for he had lost track of the conversation, he looked really lost.

"Damnit! I'm really pissed off with myself. I think that if I could just accept the fact that my life is supposed to be this living hell. You know, that's what to be expected, then I might not get so angry about it." Draco was starting to feel the weight of his actions crushing down on his shoulders.

"Where is she now, at her father's?" Blaise asked, scratching his chin.

"No, I've searched every single place she could have gone for shelter, every single corner I could think of, all except one…" He paused, closing shut his eyes with fury. "She chose it very carefully, knowing that it would certainly be the last place I'd like to place a foot inside again."

"And where is that exactly?" But before Blaise could finish the question, Draco took off and rushed upstairs heading to his bedroom.

Blaise followed him shortly after and leaned over the doorframe, holding a glass of juice in one hand tapping it with his fingers, looking puzzled. He frowned, watching closely at Draco who seemed to be at the edge of snapping out completely, opening and closing some trunks, throwing clothes in the air looking dangerously enraged swearing under his breath an unlimited list of unspeakable words.

"Draco, what are you doing? You seem like you have something on your mind. What's up?" There was a trace of panic and despair in Blaise's voice.

"I can't find that filthy trunk with my damn clothes!" Draco shot back through clenched teeth, with a dark look in his amethyst blue eyes.

"Which trunk and what clothes?" Blaise mumbled, raising an eyebrow with concern.

Draco stared at Blaise for a calculated moment before responding. "The one with my Slytherin's uniforms, I'm going back to Hogwarts."

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A/N:

I'm clueless here. I see a lot of people reading it on the stats...still no posting any review...come on, speak your mind, let me know what you think about this story.

Divinne


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER V

**CHAPTER V**

"_I've become so numb I can't feel you there  
Become so tired so much more aware  
I'm becoming this all I want to do  
Is be more like me and be less like you._

_Can't you see that you're smothering me  
Holding too tightly afraid to lose control  
Cause everything that you thought I would be  
Has fallen apart right in front of you  
Caught in the undertow just caught in the undertow  
Every step that I take is another mistake to you  
Caught in the undertow just caught in the undertow  
And every second I waste is more than I can take."_

_(LINKIN PARK - "__Numb__")_

Luna was unable to keep her composure, she simply couldn't refrain her fragile body from shaking. She stood there; her body seemed glued by the side of the entrance iron gate. At first sight, Hogwarts loomed like some strange, ominous fortress. She looked at Draco's Firebolt as held it still tight on her hand and sighed. The hardest part of it all was behind her she thought, for she already made up her decision in her head, but somehow, nothing felt right.

As she walked passed the main doors she shivered a bit, the atmosphere was oppressive. She narrowed her pearl grey eyes at the sight of a group of students coming from one of the corridors heading towards the Great Hall: it was early in the morning, breakfast time. They didn't seem to pay attention at that gloomy, head-down, say-nothing girl of dirty blond long hair and pale complexion.

Luna felt as if an icy breeze encircled her the moment she came to her senses and realized that she had become the type of person her mother never wanted her daughter to be. Luna's mother always told her to think positive and smile because she wanted her daughter to be as fun and energetic as possible so that people would enjoy being around. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, shaking her head. She didn't turn out like that, she hadn't a sparkling personality and she wasn't that amusing for people either. She didn't show it that much but those things were starting to torture and torment her.

From the inner pocket of her cloak, she extracted the letter of acceptance she received from Dumbledore along with the one from her Head of House. Both wizards were extremely pleased to hear she was returning to school. Professor Flitwick sent her a detail syllabus for her to catch up on the subjects she missed during her two months absence. To her surprise, she found out that she covered all that in the time she spent at the Chateau with her private teacher. There was another note enclosed on his letter:

"_Hogwarts' Values:_

_Hospitality __– All students are welcomed with honour and respect._

_Integrity __– Learning flourishes in an environment of honesty, trust, and personal responsibility._

_Individuality __– Every student has gifts to be discovered, nurtured, and treasured._

_Community __– Together we find strength and purpose in supporting one another."_

"Nice to see them on print at least, that's somewhat comforting." She said to herself gathering strengths to step inside.

Luna folded the letters again into her pocket and cautiously entered the Great Hall, expecting the worst. But she was surprised to find that absolutely nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. No-one seemed to notice her presence, that wasn't new. As she sat down, looking a bit disturbed and awfully tired, she glanced around the Ravenclaw's table with her foggy grey eyes and yawn quietly, stretching her arms underneath the table, once again nobody paid attention to her, as always.

She summoned a glass of juice and the bowl of oatmeal in front of her and poured some milk. After a quick warming spell, she placed her hands around the bowl, warming them. The boy in front of her lifted his eyes from the book he was reading and stared at her in disbelief, giving her a suspicious look. Luna felt a bit intimidated at first, hesitant, but then she started to feel a bit annoyed, she stared at him with a hard look, and the boy quickly lowed his gaze back to the page he was reading moments ago.

Luna then took a sip from the glass juice as she made an effort to swallow the apparently disgusting content. Frowning, she turned her attention to the bowl and start eating it, but as soon as she took a mouthful, she made a disturbed face. Pressing a napkin against her lips, she spitted it out. She started to wonder is there was something wrong with the food, but everybody seemed to enjoy pretty much what they were eating, everyone except from her.

Pushing the bowl away, as she leaned back from her sit she turned her head to a side and caught sight of Harry and Neville, both boys were raising their juice glasses at her in a saluting gesture, before returning their attention to each other again. Luna's cheeks blushed, and as soon as she turned back again she accidentally knocked over the glass of juice, dripping the liquid on the table. Embarrassed by the attention she was getting, she quickly performed a cleansing spell, forcing a tired smile to those on the table who were staring blankly at her.

The boy that was sited in front of her left the table looking visible annoyed. A couple of girls started to stare angrily at Luna who was trying in vain to shake off her nervousness. She took a deep breath and decided it was too much for her to handle at the moment; she had to leave the table. She pulled her schoolbag over her shoulder and got up from her seat looking slightly shocked, and quite disturbed, leaving the rest of her classmates with surprised and annoyed faces as she walked away from them.

From the Gryffindor's table, a pair of curious light brown eyes stared at Luna, noticing that she looked a bit intimidated as she quicken her pace and walked towards the exit. She walked with such determination that she gave an impression to know where she was heading, but her confused expression told another story though. It took that Gryffindor a few seconds to react and get up from the sit with the intention to catch her up before she left, but seemed that Luna wasn't paying attention when that student called out to her as she vanished from sight.

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Luna sighed and turned her face up to the sky, which was clear as glass that morning. She took sit at one of the crumbling stone bench located on the inner patio, close to the main entrance of the school, and pulled off her drawing kit from the bag.

"_What if I never woke up? What if this__ is a place I'm stuck somewhere between life and death…forever because I'm trying hard to cling on all those things I had once?_" She said to herself.

She then started flipping through the pages of the sketches book she finished shortly after getting out from St. Mungo's Hospital, noticing how different looked her drawings look from those she used to draw before she met Draco. There was something strange in the way she was painting now that made her creations so frightening realistic that almost life-like, just the opposite as she was feeling.

Luna felt someone tapping her gently on the shoulder to get her attention. She lifted her head and caught sight of someone who was visible running out of breath because for the past half hour that student has been running around the school facilities looking out for her.

"Neville!" Luna got up, flashing a timid smile at him.

But Neville didn't reply for he was trying to catch back his breath; he swallowed with difficulty and held her tight in his arms, almost squeezing the air out of her. She soon broke the embrace, looking a bit uncomfortable and took one step back from him to catch a better look of him.

"Luna, I missed you a lot. I'm so glad you came back to Hogwarts…at last!" Neville said, never doubting it for a minute, his heart started a goddamn tap dance in his chest probably because he hardly did any physical activity or because he was indeed happy to see his friend.

"I missed you too." She paused, her pale grey eyes fixed on his flushed face. "Neville, why you didn't came to see me back at the hospital?" She asked, looking a little burdened.

"I went to the hospital a lot of times but they wouldn't let me in. The letters, flowers or candy I've sent you were returned to me as well. The medi-wizards said you've got a strict visit regime, only family members were admitted and no gifts were allowed." His voice dropped, he held her hand in his and squeezed it gently.

"What?!" Luna was a bit startled at herself from the high volume of her remark.

"I thought your father's decision was probably right, he feared for your fragile condition but I really wanted to see you." He swallowed hard as he stared at her.

"No, my father couldn't have ordered such nonsense." She struggled to keep the tone of her voice calm, she couldn't quite believe that.

He opened wide his eyes staring at her, plainly confused. "But who else could have order that? The medi-wizards might have got the patient's charts changed by mistake then." Neville shook his head with a tint of sadness in his eyes.

"Yes, that probably explains the situation." Luna felt the lump in her throat growing, she was really angry with Draco and that cold and cruel selfishness of him. Why didn't he allow her friends to visit her while she was sick in bed?

"Luna, you look…" He hesitated, thinking through the correct words inside his head.

She unconsciously pulled some dirty blond curls over her forehead, covering her silvery grey eyes and looked at her feet. She was starting to feel miserable.

"…strangest than ever?" She shot back, without waiting for him.

"No, not at all! Whatever they did back at St. Mungo's Hospital it worked miracles. You look great, but yet a bit…sad, why?" He frowned as he looked up at her with a tint of concern in his eyes.

Neville raised one hand, pulling back the hair from her face and then he took a small step back, giving her some space, staring at her in silence. Luna looked up at him, with a concerned look on her face; she was somewhat lost in her thoughts.

"Orchideous!" From Neville's wand came out a sparkling violet colour lighting what soon took the shape of a beautiful bouquet of orchids. "For you, to compensate the many gifts my owl couldn't deliver once you recovered. Luna, may I ask where you've been this past month, after you left the hospital?"

Luna took it with both her hands and buried her nose on the bouquet, but she found herself unable to perceive the sweet perfume of the flowers.

"I'm afraid that place was too secret for any owl to find." She let out a big sigh and got serious.

"But…why?" Neville looked a bit confused.

"Neville, can you keep a secret?" Luna was shaking nervously; she was having a hard time as she tried to keep the tears away.

"Yes." He replied, but with a worried tone on his voice.

"So can I." She hung her head and shrugged, feeling pathetic.

Neville was about to say something but then he hesitated for what seemed ages, not sure how to manage to phrase the words inside his head, and shrugged.

"Neville, do you believe there is a part in everyone, deep inside in one's mind and soul, with things you'd like to keep away from others?" Luna asked as she broke suddenly the silence.

"I guess, that's what I would call having some sort of _privacy_. It's perfectly normal to keep things just for ourselves." Neville said, his voice was paused and strangely calm.

"What if by keeping those things to yourself you end up hurting others?" She squeezed her eyes shut, her body was shacking again.

"You mean, hut their feelings…or hurt them for real?" He blinked a few times, trying to focus his sigh on Luna's pale face.

She thought for a long time before replying, not because she didn't know the answer, but because she was afraid of it.

"Both." She replied with a strange and dark look in her eyes.

"I don't understand." He looked at her in silence, thinking over and over inside his head what she just confessed him.

How could she explain to Neville the strange connection between her and Draco without being completely honest with herself first and admit that she didn't knew why or how that happened in the first place? Her marriage was a total secret, only her father, Blaise and Snape knew about it, and it was meant that way to keep both Draco and her safe from the endless repercussions of the news, or at least to keep it under the veil until the end of the war. The powerful bond she shared with her husband would eventually destroy her completely if she kept running from it, making it look more like a curse than a gift. How was she going to confide to her friend that destiny bond her life to Draco without her knowing the reasons of all that? Why was she meant to end with someone she loved and feared at the same time? Would love overcome it all, or would eventually lead her to an imminent death?

She sighed and shook her head before turning to narrow her eyes at her friend. "Neville, I ran away from the place I've been living since I left the hospital because I was afraid of what would happen to me if I stayed there any longer. What they've done to me back in the hospital changed me, I hardly know myself now."

"Luna what are you talking about? You've fully recovered and you're here! That's all that matters." He said, taking a step closer, holding her in his arms as he tried to calm her, for she was shaking madly.

Luna broke the embrace as Neville wiped the tears away from her face with one hand. She turned it over in her mind again and again, Neville was right still something struck inside her.

"I never felt so alive…so strong…" She started to say, but her voice suddenly cracked. _'…yet so confused'._ She concluded to herself.

Neville looked up at her and it struck him that her melancholic image hardly blurred her beauty. After shaking his head twice, he started to sing a funny and catchy muggle tune that made her giggle in a silly manner.

"I know. I know…I'm an awful singer, but at least I make you laugh!" He said, flashing an enchanting smile that soon disappeared when he looked back at her. "Luna, are you okay?"

She shook her head. "No, but thanks for asking. Please Neville, don't feel sorry for me."

"Actually, I'm scared for you." He confessed, arching an eyebrow with concern.

Luna knew Neville was nervous, given that gasping, choking sound he was making in the back of his throat.

"Are you scared for me of scared at me?" She asked, blowing her hair out of her eyes.

"This is not a pity thing. I don't feel sorry for you and I'm not scared at you, you're my friend!" He said, refraining his stream of conscience that was shouting inside his head: _"I'm right here Luna, whenever you need me, I'll be right here for you_."

"Neville, you're my best friend and I don't want anything bad to happen to you." She sobbed.

"That's why we've got to stick together, in good and bad times: that's what friends are for!" He smiled, rubbing softly her shoulder with one hand.

Right from inside Neville's backpack came out his pet: Trevor. The small toad jumped right into Luna's open hand, she caressed it with maternal affection.

"Oh, hello little one!" She smiled, letting out a slight laugh. "Would you mind if I borrow Trevor for some minutes, I'd like to make a portrait of him." She said suddenly, flashing a timid smile.

He hesitated for a moment, then shrugged and nodded, taking a sit on the bench. Luna placed the toad over the small statue in front of her and set her pencils, brushes and aquarelles kit on her right. She took sit next to Neville and flexed her legs, placing the sketches book over her lap making the first lines. Neville peeked at her work from time to time, looking intrigued.

"Na-ah!" She mocked him, mimicking Draco's house elf nasal faulty voice.

By the time Luna realized what she had done, she closed shut her eyes and curled her lips with a soft smile. She pictured inside her mind the many times that creature had refrained her, in vain, from doing some minor household chores back at the Chateau. The girl found hard to believe she was starting to miss that bossy and nervous creature called Pharouthk.

She pulled the sketches book from Neville's sight, for she saw he was peeking it out, and said to him that he would take a proper look at it once it was finished, it would take just a couple of more minutes. He nodded and closed his eyes, resting his back on the bench, waiting for her to finish the portrait.

Luna certainly enjoyed a lot to draw and paint. What started as a casual hobby suddenly turned into both a passion and a cry for understanding. She found it was probably the only way to truly express her creativity and unique vision of the world, hoping others would finally get to know her better through her art.

She realized that, when drawing, she could actually look at the world from two different points: corresponding to the positions of each of the eyes. This dual advantage of the sight, present in everyone, creates tiny differences between the images that catch each eye, and it's the mind the one in charge to relate both images and get an idea of what's was in front of the eyes.

That's why, whenever she tried to concentrate on the dimensions of what she was going to paint, she first closed on eye and made a mental image of it, then opened the other to complete it. Nature was wise, she thought, but she wondered why people still found hard to blend their thoughts and be more tolerant when eyes blend the images of what's around them all the time?

"I don't mind, the more I lost my social and language abilities, the wilder and freer my art became." She hissed softly, her eyes smoke grey eyes were fixed on Trevor, she wasn't blinking.

"With whom are you talking Luna?" Neville asked, opening his eyes in wonder, looking around with a puzzled look.

"I was just talking with…myself. You can do that too, you know?" She said, shrugging innocently.

"You mean talking out loud?" The moment those words came out from his mouth, he closed shut his eyes, for he didn't mean to distress her.

"Not really, what I meant is that it's perfectly common to hear voices, for example those that encourage us like: _Come on, you can do it_…" She replied, almost whispering.

He gave her a timid smile, trying to focus his mind on what she was saying.

Luna rewarded his confused expression with a timid smile. "Or when you've got a catchy tune inside your hear and you start to sing it, welcoming them because you are in control of the voices."

He nodded, still looking a bit puzzled.

She combed her messy dirty blond curls back and took a big breath. "Well, sometimes they're not that easy to recognize as your own. That's why you have to talk to them. The more you talk back, the less power those voices tend to have." She forced a smiled, but her pearl grey eyes were haunted with visible sadness.

Neville stared at her in silence as the muscles of his face started to tremble, almost dropping his jaw in astonishment.

"Please, can I see the portrait now?" He shook his head, changing abruptly the subject.

She nodded and handled the finished portrait to him: she even signed it and dedicated to him: _To my best friend, Neville, from Luna_. She managed to capture Trevor's viscous natural beauty with shocking realism, but his skin was painted in a strange blue colour instead of the expected green.

"But…Luna…my toad looks like a cloud!" He said all of the sudden without even stopping a moment to think out his words. He was supposed to show some appreciation and he ended being a bit insensitive towards her.

"Just because you relate the colour blue with clouds doesn't mean that this is not your toad…see?" She smiled, cupping Trevor in her hands.

"Yes, I recognize this is Trevor's portrait, but he looks…weird in it."

"Well, a lot of times people go: _Oh that's weird, that's crazy_! Then they go: _Oh, that's genious!"_ She bit her lower lip as she scribbled something on a new page of her sketches book. Turning it for Neville to see, she asked.

"Tell me, what colour is _written_ in the page?" She held tight the book; the word GREEN was in blue colour aquarelle.

"Blue…I mean green!" He choked the word out.

"Yes! You get the idea now what I was talking about later? You just have to open your mind." She grinned, rubbing her fingers gently on his forehead.

"I never understood art, sorry." He paused, closing his eyes feeling her fingertips caressing his skin while blushing a bit. "But I truly appreciate your doing this for me, thanks Luna. I like my gift!"

"Thanks for the flowers." Her lips curled with a trembling smile.

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A/N:

Here's the deal you send me your reviews and I'll post the next chapter. Thanks for stopping by, enjoy the reading!

Divinne


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER VI

WARNING! Deathly Hallows spoiler!! Read at your own risk & enjoy.

You know how this works people, the more reviews you owl me the faster I post the next chapter...so it's up to you.

**CHAPTER VI**

"_You know I wonder how you already figured out  
All these things th__at I try to hide  
All this time I've been hoping you don't find out  
All these things that I hide on the inside._

_I can't be held responsible  
This is all so new to me  
Just when I think I'm invincible  
You come and happen to me."_

_(CROSSFADE – "Invincible")_

Draco looked quite disgusted with the whole situation, but tried his hardest to endure. He felt an icy chill running down his spine as he emptied his lungs making an eerie smoky cloud on the air. It was an extremely cold night; he pocketed his freezing hands inside his Slytherin's cloak and walked with determination towards the Great Hall, stopping just a couple of steps behind his friend. There was a dark look on his amethyst blue eyes; actually it was a serious and very creepy look. His face was partially covered behind the hood; still he brushed nervously his silk blond fringe over his eyes and frowned. He went over and over again in his head whether to keep waiting there or step inside once and for all.

"Everybody should have finished dinner by now, why are they taking so long to leave?" Draco muttered between clenched teeth. "Just go in there and ask Luna to come out!" He said with a bossy tone giving a cold stare at Blaise.

"If you're not going to enter, why did you bother to come here in the first place?" Blaise's mocking face was almost lost in the shadow cast by the hood.

"No-one is aware of my presence and I'm trying to keep this low profile as long as I find Luna and take her with me back home. I don't want to cause a scene, that's why." The blond replied, he then crossed his arms and rested over a column, hidden from the view of those who would eventually come out from the Great Hall.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of these gits!" Blaise ignored the comment and stared at his friend in astonishment.

"Right, I go in there, kidnap my wife in front of everybody and get out?! Tell me how am I supposed to do that without waking up a horde of gossips and suspicions?!" He snapped, looking really pissed off. "If you're not going to cooperate I'll just wait here until she comes out!"

"There's a slight problem, we've completely forgot about him." Blaise looked up from above Draco's shoulder and then closed shut his eyes swallowing painfully.

The blond turned round and caught sight of Peeves, the poltergeist, looking at the two hooded figures with an astonished and distorted face.

"_Hissy hissy, little snakey, _

_L__ook, it's Draco Malfoy who came back!_

_Hissy, hissy, little pretty,_

_Why__ hide under that cloak all black?"_

Peeves hysterical chant grew louder and louder, resounding on the walls outside the Great Hall, catching the attention of those students who were coming from out from it, looking extremely curious with the sudden fuss.

"Damnit Peeves!" The tragic expression that came over Draco's face was priceless.

"Remember three terrible karmas my friend! It's always a good day for the crows when it comes to you. While you distract them, I'll try to find Luna." Blaise took a few steps back from Draco and disappeared in the crowd.

"Malfoy, is that you?" Crabble shouted, waving both his arms in the air.

"You stupid git…" The blond muttered under his breath as the mob circled him like a flock of vultures surrounding a prey.

Draco looked around hastily and exhaled stressfully, mesmerized by the drama. A warning bell went off in his head when he laid eyes on what many of the students were holding in their hands: it was the newest edition of THE QUIBBLER.

"Sir, would you please sign our copy?" A boy and girl asked him in unison. Draco noticed that the boy got a heavy German accent tone in his voice.

The blond recognized them immediately; that couple of 2nd year Ravenclaws had been the same one who addressed him as the _anonymous avenger_ after the strange events of the beaten 7th year bully from Slytherin back in Halloween. Of course the kids were still unaware that it had been Draco the one who smashed one of his own classmates.

He grabbed the magazine and froze when he looked at the cover. There was his portrait: a moving colour photograph in which he looked really annoyed as he tried to cover the lens of the camera. The title read DRACO MALFOY: THE LEAST EXPECTED HERO.

He'd never have agreed to do that if it weren't for his stupid moment of weakness at Luna's moving pleas. And now he had to bear the consequences: the unnecessary and dangerous exposure of his image to the Wizardry World and the unexpected hassle of the students at Hogwarts.

It was pointless to keep hiding his face behind the hood for everybody was full aware of that strange new light in his eyes. He pulled the hood from his head, but still clenched nervously his fingers through his hair and pulled his silk blond fringe over his eyes with an unconscious gesture.

The Ravenclaw boy extended his shaking hand holding a self-inking quill, looking already miserable as he fixed his innocent eyes on the floor, probably expecting that Draco would refuse to such petition.

The blond was about to turn him down without thinking it twice when that small boy lifted his gaze and fixed his intense dark blue eyes at him and smiled shyly. Right then a voice deep inside the Slytherin's mind drifted him from that course of action: it was a perfect opportunity to show one of his _re-creating personality moods_. Why not play with one of his many talents and give way to yet another side of his psyche? This way he would caught everybody out of guard and therefore remain always unpredictable.

"I've got a special quill for this…" Draco paused, narrowing maliciously his burning amethyst blue eyes.

When he finished scribbling something on the cover's magazine and handled it over, he almost crushed the copy against the poor boy lungs for that was going to be the first and last time he would sign a copy in his life.

Draco had written a word in German language in blurry green ink: ARSCHGESICHT but soon as the kids scanned it with stunned and perplexed eyes the letters rearranged themselves and read in Draco's impeccable handwriting and with a glossy green ink: SIEG HEIL! D.M. The boy and girl then looked at each other and grinned from ear to ear, hurrying to show it to their friends.

As the rest of the students started to whisper animatedly among themselves and a massive amount of hands were shaking their copies in front of Draco's nose an annoying mouse-like voice called him out.

"Malfoy, can I take you a photo?" It was no other than Colin Creevey holding his camera.

"Creevey…" Draco smirked tiredly as he approached the annoying boy, the blonde's patience was diminishing at an incredible fast rate.

The Slytherin grabbed the boy by the arm and stroke a sensitive pressure point at the back of the elbow joint with mild force. That numbed momentarily the nervous system of Colin's arm, incapacitating it for several minutes so that he wouldn't be able to take any photo at all.

As he turned around, leaving the frustrated paparazzi with a very puzzled look, he caught sight of a girl of long dirty blond hair walking fast, heading to Ravenclaw's Tower.

Draco shook his head in exasperation and quickly moved through the group of people, trying his best to squeeze his slim body through the overcrowded Hall. He caught Luna right when she was climbing the enchanted stairs which decided to turn and move, granting Draco an opportunity to be alone with her, at least for a few moments.

"You've just run out of places to hide from me." He said, reaching out for her, grabbing her arm.

She froze and turned round, keeping her face impassive and only managed to say. "Draco…"

He spun her around and smacked her up against the banister; he was inches from her face.

"…enjoy the _Welcome Party._" She finished, forcing a slight condescend smile.

"Luna, just because you've snapped and took off, didn't mean I was going to let you go that easy. We need to talk." Draco frowned, trying to easy a growing lump of his throat.

"The last time we talk, you reduced me to tears, like you always do. Tell me Draco, why would be any different this time?" She moved her head from side to side slowly, avoiding his gaze.

"We'll have to work on that, we've got to get back home." He let go a sigh and adjusted his expression, hiding the sense of sadness he felt when looking at her in that pathetic shape.

"Please listen to me Draco, I'm staying here." She said as she straightened slightly her fragile body from the sudden fright that stroked her and took a step back from him.

"No you won't, you'll come with me back to the Chateau!" Draco looked at her with an unnatural and heatless stare in his eyes that didn't quite fit the desperate tone of his voice.

"NO!" She chocked the word out, sweating profusely.

He managed an amusing smirk as he pocketed back the wand after failing to cast the Imperious Curse on her.

"Well, well… I'm just going sit here and brood, silently, just like your owl." He crossed his arms and rested on a step.

"What are you talking about?!"

"Your owl and Noir are taking care of their eggs back home." He shrugged, looking up at her.

She swallowed several times until she could get her voice to work. "That beast impregnated my pet!?"

"What did you expect? Noir is a thoroughbred French stud." He arched casually an eyebrow.

"That owl corrupts whatever that touches: no wonder he's yours!" There was a trace of panic and despair in her voice.

"Let me remind you that it was your filthy owl the one who was always showing off in front of my pet. What did you expect?!" He flashed a mocking smirk.

Luna's cheeks flushed a tint of red; she looked at Draco with her watery sad grey eyes.

"What were you thinking when you decided to came here?" He got serious again and narrowed his eyes, lifting his slim framed body from the step.

"I chose this place because I knew you wouldn't come here." She hissed with what seemed to be her last remaining strength.

"You're damn right about that! The Dark Lord wants my head over a plate therefore countless of Death Eaters are after me. The moment the news that I'm here spread, hell will break loose and everybody will fall with me. I don't care about this pathetic school and the gits in here, seems that you don't give a damn either!" His heart was beating at an incredibly fast pace echoing inside him like a timing bomb ready to explode.

"I needed to get away from you Draco, for a while at least. I never wanted to jeopardize yours or anybody's safety for that matter." She sobbed.

She just wanted to bury herself deep enough that nothing he ever did could hurt her again.

"You're acting like a spoiled little brat sabotaging everything we've built together! WHY?" He clenched his teeth as he got closer, restraining himself from laying a hand on her. But with his self-control slipping through him by the minute, he was finding difficult not to harm her physically.

"You want a why? Well, I've got plenty of reasons: maybe I just needed some time on my own to understand what's happening to me; maybe I just wanted to get away because I was afraid of you and your constant paranoia." Tears welled up in her eyes; one tear, then another slid down her face. She made no effort to stop them.

"Luna, don't provoke me." He warned her in between deep and short gasps, cold sweat was dripping from his arched eyebrows, both of his hands were clutched into solid fists.

"You're going to hurt me…again?" She froze, terrified.

But right then, when he started to feel the rage warming his blood, he took a big breath: filling his lungs with her scent, intoxicated with her closeness as he tried with all his might to calm himself down. "If you know what's best for you, sweetheart, you'd better reconsider coming with me tonight or I'll do the unthinkable to take you back home."

"Don't you dare to touch me, I hate you!" Luna snapped, coherence had completely deserted her, she was not thinking anymore what she was saying.

Draco felt as if a lighting struck right through him, the abyss of his amethyst blue eyes couldn't reach her, as his anger reached his top. His face darkened, rage and pain were on the verge of slipping through him and this time he was not going to deny the opportunity to unleash them.

"Now you hate me…AND WHAT OF IT?! Hate is all I know, it taught me how to breathe in order to survive and I'd probably die immersed in it!" He clenched his fingers on his silk blond hair, pulling back the sweaty blocks of his fringe away from his forehead.

"I can't get rid of those images in my head, of all those terrible things you've done to me!" She wiped the tears of her swollen eyes.

Like a wounded animal, all she had wanted to do was crawl away and hide until the pain disappeared.

"What happened had marked us, yes, but it was meant to bring us together for good. I've gave you my name, my possessions, even my own blood. I've handled you everything I've got. How dare turn your back at all that?!" He roared, unable to stop holding back the irrational mixed emotions he was feeling at the moment.

The territory Draco was exploring inside him was incommensurable dark and painful.

"It's all about you and what YOU want, you're a selfish monster!" She forced her gaze off the floor and made a brief eye contact with him.

"This is the way I am. I just won't apologize for wanted to have you by my side. You can't run away from me, you're my wife!" He grabbed her by the shoulder and shook her back to awareness, for she seemed lost in her thoughts.

"But I'm not your prisoner!" She recoiled, fixing her stare at her right hand as she tried to get her wedding ring off without any luck for the serpent circled her flesh even tighter, preventing any attempts to remove it from her finger.

"We are both prisoners of this bond: I accepted the burden now it's time for you to deal with it too. And what you're doing is useless for these are fidelity rings and there are only two ways of removing them: when the one who gave it to you breaks the bows or takes it off by the force. With that said, you'll finger will rot with that ring on. And you better honour your bows, sweetheart, for I'll know if you misbehave!" He shot back twirling the wedding ring on his finger, the white of his eyes was getting reddish with maddening rage.

"Draco, please leave!" She cried, her stomach bottomed out and her skin went clammy.

"Wake up Luna and stop daydreaming. It's time to confront the truth once and for all. You've got a life ahead of you, WITH ME!"

His burning amethyst blue eyes pierced the infinite greyness of her pearl gems.

"Veni, Vidi, volo in domum redire (i)" He breathed heavily and clamped his teeth down hard.

"Discedere ad inferos! (ii)" She wrapped her arms around her body in a protective way.

Along Luna's ultimatum came a buzzing sound, like a reverb effect behind her words delivering other inaudible sounds that startled Draco more than her harsh words. He stepped back, feeling a bit dizzy. The stair stopped moving and assembled with the fifth floor's rest.

Draco's mouth opened twice before he managed to speak. "I'm already there, thanks to you!"

She busted into tears and raced into a bathroom, closing shut the door behind her. He followed her with his blood-shot eyes, then turned round and collided with…Hermione.

"Get out of the way Granger." He looked up sharply, wanting to send her away so he could take some minutes for himself to tame his anger before confronting Luna again.

"I'm sorry, I was just wondering…" She mumbled, holding a copy of THE QUIBBLER tight against her lap.

"Merlin! You want that signed too?" He paused, feeling a burning nausea crawling up his throat.

Draco ripped the magazine from her hands, folded it in a conical shape and threw up in there.

"That's not exactly what I'd call an autograph…" She shrugged.

"No, that's what I'd call Malfoy's royal puke!" He smirked, cleaning the sickness from his lips as he caught sight of Neville, staring right back at him with shocked eyes asking to both Draco and Hermione what was going on.

"I wasn't speaking to you, Longbottom. When I speak to you, you'll know it because I'll look at you!" Draco rolled his eyes in exasperation.

Someone cleared his throat behind the Slytherin, it was no other than Severus Snape.

"Malfoy, go to my office." He ordered, bending his all-black dressed tall figure towards his student with a reproaching look on his cold dark eyes.

But Draco didn't move. He glued his helpless amethyst blue eyes to the girl's bathroom's door: behind it was his wife, so close yet so far from his reach.

"NOW!"

Startled by the whip-lash shout, Draco nodded in silent, neatly avoiding eye contact with his Head of House.

"Here, catch it!" The blond threw the nasty soaked magazine to Neville before catching Snape down the corridor.

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Snape's restless and anxious black dressed figure paced back and forth inside his office, watching with those judging black piercing eyes at the blond young man standing in front of him. Draco kept muttering countless curses under his breath. He would be on his way back with a submissive Luna, previously stunned or jinxed of course, in his arms heading back home by then if it weren't for that silent, private and unfair trial held by his Head of House.

"Many would be very upset that you are still running around loose. If they knew you were here, the Dark Lord's Army would be here like that." Snape said, snapping his fingers.

"I know some of them are already here. The moment I stepped outside the Chateau's walls I've felt a presence following my every move..." Draco paused and took a long deep breath. "But the Death Eaters proved to be doing a terrible lousy job, they failed to capture Potter despite the countless possibilities they got during the past seventeen years. So what does make you think they will succeed in capturing me?" He arched a sceptic eyebrow, crossing his arms.

Snape didn't bother to pick up Draco's sarcastic remark and approached his desk getting something out from one of the drawers. He then threw a copy of THE QUIBBLER over it for his student to see.

"Malfoy, what were you thinking?" He looked at the blond for a curious instant; he then leaned against the desk, fixing his black eyes on the magazine.

Draco licked his dry lips and pressed them together, staring down at the magazine.

"I'm waiting…" Snape said, slamming his fist against the desk in frustration.

"I've only created a false image of the actual facts and of my true intentions. I've not only winded up Potter's lack of action but I've humiliated and confused him as well by creating the illusion that I shared his values. When I've pushed him in the past, he achieved some minor important things: being the youngest seeker, becoming aware that he could speak Parseltongue, just to name a few. Well, this time I've set a trap for him: my resent rise to the so called _Hero Podium_ will end up boiling his envy, forcing Potter to react and confront the Dark Lord without the time to think or plan. With no time to think, he and his friends will make errors of judgment, leading them to their imminent deaths." He replied with a mischievous smirk.

"Still, the Dark Lord won't let your actions unpunished after he finishes with Potter." He walked towards him, his pointed nose stopped only a few inches from Draco's face.

"Sir, I'm fully aware that once He kills Potter, the Dark Lord would become as vulnerable as the rest of us. I guess I'll take my chance against Him then." Draco shot back with a calm composure without moving from where he was standing.

"How much do you know about the Dark Lord's source of power?" Snape asked, suspicion was playing all over his sickly pale face.

"I've only put the pieces together. The day I've performed Legilimency on Potter I caught some interesting memories from Dumbledore's Pensieve. Later, when I took a good look at his scar, I knew why the Dark Lord marked him with the ancient Rune _Sig_: only a great work is signed with that Rune. Then it all made sense, Potter is the last Horcrux, he's the last source of His power."

Snape narrowed his ink-black eyes as he got up from his sit, the blonde's words had certainly caught him by surprise and he didn't know what to say. There was a brief silence, it looked like he still didn't know what to make of all that.

But then, to both his and Draco's surprise, a strange and amusing smile curled the ends of his lips. "I'm pleased to have you back here for it grants me the opportunity to lecture and guide you. Malfoy, you've still got a lot to learn."

The young Slytherin looked somewhat disgusted with that remark, still he kept calm, realising that it was probably not a wise move to contradict and outshine his professor. It was better to show him that he still needed him despite the fact that Draco already proved he could outdo, outcharm and outsmart his Head of House at key moments.

Draco had to hide his time and be patient. He looked up and replied with and studied respectful obliged manner. "I've always welcomed your teachings and guidance Sir."

Clenching his hand on Draco's shoulder like a claw, Snape replied. "And that's exactly what makes you worthy of my precious time, Malfoy."

"So…Slytherin will win the House Cup this year I assume? I've must have summed a lot of points with my resent heroic deeds. A shame I won't be here to see the ceremony for I intend to leave tonight with my wife, with or without her consent." Draco said with an evil smirk.

"Master the art of timing Malfoy: hurrying betrays a lack of control over yourself…and over time. Always seem patient, as if you know that everything will come to you eventually. You must stand back when the time is not yet ripe, and strike fiercely when it was reached fruition." Snape's words were paused and determined, his pitch dark eyes were fixed in that endless blue amethyst ocean of Draco's eyes.

"I won't vegetate in here waiting for her to make up her mind. I'm leaving this place with my wife…tonight…Sir." Draco spoke as if he was chewing on the words, trying to stifle his rage, taking big breaths in between the phrases.

He shook himself off Snape's grip and stared with an enraged look at his professor, there was a brief silence. Snape got in full the harsh menace in Draco's message, still he didn't seem to pay any attention to it, as he kept on talking.

"And return to your _fortress_?" Snape looked up, arching his dark eyebrows with morbid satisfaction. "That isolation is dangerous, it would expose you more dangers than it protects you from for it cuts you off from valuable information, making you an easy target. You are shielded from your enemies by the crowd."

Draco opened wide his astonished amethyst blue eyes, his face turned a slight shade of red with restrained anger. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I'm not staying in here, nor will my wife!"

"Never enclose yourself far from hearing what is happening around you, including the plots against you." This time Snape's words didn't past unheard, on the contrary, they burned Draco's ears.

The blond quickly shook of his annoyance as he cleared his throat. "WHAT?!"

"Prefects are expected to role model for other students, counsel students who are experiencing difficulty, provide a liaison between the school staff and students, meet regularly with the Headmaster to discuss policies, concerns, and the progress of school life. It's your duty also to assist all Head Boys and Head Girls in supervising the grounds during either morning and evening rounds." Snape started to lecture, stopping to cough quietly.

"I'm familiar with the concept, thank you very much, but I don't intend to stay here another minute!" Draco undid the knot of his tie along with the first two buttons of his shirt, he felt like he was hyperventilating all of a sudden.

A rush of burning anger started to suffocate him very badly, the blond started to swear silently.

"Don't interrupt me before I've said what I am just now right about to say!" Snape frowned, giving him a hard look, the killing kind.

"A prefect who violates a major school rule or demonstrates an unwillingness to accept the responsibilities of leadership and privilege may forfeit his position." And with this said Snape clasped the prefect's badge besides the Slytherin's crest of Draco's cloak, piercing through the cloth, stinging the blonde's silk skin in the process without the slightest delicacy.

Draco remained strangely silent mesmerized by the ink-black eyes in front of him that seemed to pierce a hole right through his skull.

"Tonight you'll start again with your rounds, here's the syllabus of the classes you've missed to catch up on the subjects. Enjoy the light reading and welcome back to Hogwarts!" He concluded, slapping the shoulder of his student with a violent push.

Draco slowly shook his head. He was in shock and he was pretty sure of that because nothing Snape said made sense at all. He started to leave, mumbling something inaudible about hating every single minute since he stepped foot on the school grounds.

"Malfoy?" Snape purred with a soft hiss.

The blond turned back and looked at Snape with both a confused and pissed off look.

Pocketing his hands on the black robe he was wearing, he took a couple of steps towards his student, narrowing their distance in just a couple of inches again. "Ever bear in mind that equilibrium results only from the opposition of forces; the active has no existence without the passive; light without darkness produces no form; and affirmation can only triumph over negation. Love gains accession of strength from hate. Eventually, you'll find the way to get back to Lovegood."

"Peachy…" Draco muttered, clenching his hand over the handle's knob, striking the door shut behind him.

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A/N

ARSCHGESICHT (German language): Assface / Butthead.

SIEG HEIL (German language): Victory Hail / Hail to victory.

(i)Veni, Vidi, volo in domum redire. (Latin): I came, I saw, I want to go home.

(ii) Discedere ad inferos! (Latin): Go to hell!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N:

F#ck, (yeah I do auto-censored myself, I hate cursing!) I don't think no-one would really care or even notice, still I'd like to say that I'll be gone for a couple of days and won't be able to post any new chapter until I return from my...let's call it "forced time-break?"...if I ever happen to make it alive!

The thing here is that I need to re-evaluate a lot of things in my life... otherwise I think I'll lose my marbles for real. I've been re-reading some of the next chapter drafts and I've scared myself about how dark, sick & twisted my thoughts have turned...I guess I'll need to start them from scratch or maybe just put a warning to the reader...despite I've listed this fic for MATURE (& HARDLY INFLUENCED) AUDIENCE ONLY... I bet there are still one or two innocent & pure souls reading it (you're now doomed...booo!) and I don't want to be the reason of their existential breakdowns ...Thanks for making the stats of this fic skyrocket...still so few scarce reviews...don't be shy I won't get mad if you tell me that my writing sucks! I already know that!! (actually I LOVE it as if it were my baby...a very retarded and stupid one...still part of me). English is not my mother language and this is my best shot at it...I guess I've improved a little since I write the first part (Forever May Not Be Long Enough) about 3 years ago (but posted early this year)...thank god I don't live from writing and I got a job to pay the bills...whatever... I don't want to turn this fic in some kind of auto-biography of my fucked up life...wait a minute...isn't that exactly the main reason to start writing a fan-fic in the fist place?! LOL ...I can't help feeling Draco's (this one, not JKR canon) character like my alter ego at times...hell...most of the time...always!!

#Once the truth is revealed, events will snowball beyond your control.#

Divinne

**CHAPTER VII**

"_You got no right  
To keep me waiting here  
You got no right  
To keep the pain in here  
That holds the crown._

_And if I fall apart on the outside  
You really don't believe me  
And if I take it to the brink  
And if I fall apart on the outside  
You really don't believe me  
You would have barely seen me breathe."_

_(VELVET REVOLVER - "You Got No Right")_

As Draco walked slowly through the deserted corridors that night after talking with Snape, he was mentally gathering information of the environment that surrounded him. Not even those slight sounds were taken for granted by the meticulous Slytherin.

He'd been away only for about two months, why did the school looked so different then? Taking into account that it was a short gap of time that passed by, why did the smells, lighting and sights that inflicted upon his senses felt completely odd and new to him? He didn't quite know why he was gathering inside him those impressions or why all of the sudden that overwhelming amount of sensory information was starting to set off alarm bells inside his mind for unknown reasons.

Maybe all those previous memories were blocked by a defence mechanism of his unconscious or maybe he just didn't want to experience the unease familiarity and unpleasant state of _déjà vu_ that meant going back to Hogwarts. But this new sensations, triggered by a sense of constant alert with the surrounding, indicated something else, something disturbing. The muscles in his sculpted face contracted: the environment was rejecting his presence with the same levelled force as Draco's hatred for being stuck in there. Luckily, that building tension would be over soon after he succeeded with his plan and be miles away from the Castle with Luna in his arms.

Draco's slender and tall built body headed straight to the west side of the Castle, more precisely to Ravenclaw's Tower. The dim light of his wand was casting eerie shadows as he passed by. The soft waves of this cloak rhythmically followed the Slytherin's elegant and feline way of walking.

"You are to be congratulated on the vigilance with which you keep the watch assigned to you."The painting of Phineas Nigellus Black greeted with a snobbish gentleman manner.

Draco managed a tight nod as he passed by but didn't stop. Still the blond wondered why his painting was hanged in that solitary hall when, as former headmaster of Hogwarts, would have to be decorating Dumbledore's office along with the rest of the other headmasters' paintings. He narrowed his cold amethyst blue eyes, reminding himself why Phineas was considered the least popular headmaster by the rest of the Houses at Hogwarts.

"_He was pure-blood, Slytherin, headmaster, wealthy rich and he got power: all this together is just unacceptable in this school, right? The so called 'Unity of the Four Houses' __is nothing but a sick joke__!" _Draco said to himself, his tense and joyless facial expression imprisoned his most dark feelings and emotions tight under control.

Just when the blond was turning down the corridor, he caught sight of Terry Boot: the Ravenclaw's prefect. The tall brunette was leaning against the Common Room's door, playing alone with his self-shuffling cards. Draco had beaten him many times in the past when they happened to come across during rounds and the Slytherin wanted to shake off his boredom, taking advantage of Terry's gambling addiction. The blond had already amassed a vast collection of Terry's most precious possessions. No surprise in that for Draco was an excellent strategist, what made him an unbeatable player.

Draco clenched his teeth with annoyance; he certainly didn't want to come across Terry and his non-stop boring chats and he wasn't at all amused to beat him at any game whatsoever, no matter what the Ravenclaw's boy placed at stake. He had to gain access to the door at any cost. The blond smirked in silence for he had come up with some pretty good ideas: the problem was to choose which one wouldn't leave that many permanent sequels on Terry's physical condition.

"_What the hell, he deserves what's coming for him_." Draco said to himself, ready to strike.

But a menacingly sound of rattling chains being dragged over the harsh stone floor caught the attention of Draco. He turned round, walking towards The Bloody Baron instead.

"Absence diminishes minor passions and inflames great ones, as the wind douses a candle and fans a fire." The ghost said, breaking the reining silence without looking at the blond but fully aware of his intentions as he made circles around him with his face fixed on the walls. "What do these Ravenclaw's ladies have that made us Slytherins go mad?"

"It's a curse I'm afraid." Draco replied with lacking enthusiasm, and added "You're here for the Gray Lady, right?"

"I haven't seen her for weeks, her absence inflames and excites my yearning for her…and she knows it, still she keeps avoiding me." The ghost seemed to look down within himself, trying to ease his agony.

Draco swallowed hard, pushing away those unwelcoming feelings trying to shut up his heart.

"I was madly in loved and she denied me, that's why I killed her and then I put an end with my life. Why go on living is she wasn't by my side?" The Baron lamented, as he lifted between his hands the penance chains that imprisoned him.

"Still if you save them, women end up hating you! Where's justice in all this?" Draco rolled his eyes, cursing under his breath.

"There is no justice, not for men like us." The ghost sentenced with a hollow voice.

Draco sighed and rested his back against the wall, crossing his arms with frustration "I need that entrance cleared, could you distract that git while I manage to get inside?"

But when the blond turned round to check on the ghost, The Bloody Baron had already vanished in the air, materializing a few inches behind Terry, catching him by surprise while he dissuaded the prefect to follow him, probably leading the boy into a nasty ruse.

Ravenclaw's Common Room had a very unique feature that made it stand out from the other three for it didn't use a password. In order to gain entrance into it, each student had to answer correctly to the riddle formulated by the eagle-shaped door's knob.

Draco walked straight at it and tilted his head to one side, staring at the bird who feigned being fast asleep. He then got close and whistle loudly into the bird's ears.

"May I ask who are you and what do you want?" Not at all what Draco expected the little and lectured bird would ask, no matter how rude had been the awakening for as a guardian, it should be alert at all times.

"My name is Draco Malfoy, I'm Slytherin's prefect and I want to step inside." He frowned, probably the silvery animal made that question on purpose to find out who Draco was.

"A Slytherin?" The eagle asked with a worried tone.

Was it something about the green and gray combination of colors in his uniform the cause of the small creature's distress?

"Aren't you supposed to ask me a riddle so I can get inside?" Draco crossed his arms, waiting for the bird to cut the act and get to the point.

"Not one, but five riddles must a student from Slytherin answer correctly in order to step inside, those are my rules." The high pitch voice of the eagle echoed on the walls.

"So if members of my House are supposed to answer four more riddles than the rest, I take that you consider us, Slytherins, the best students of the school. I like that!" Draco teased, smirking in an evil and dark way.

"What cannot be seen but only heard, and will not speak until spoken to?" The bird asked at once.

"The echo." Draco replied without letting it finish the last word.

"What three letters make a man of a boy?"

"Age." Another correct rocket answer provided by the blond.

"What has roots as nobody sees, is taller than trees, up, up, it goes, and yet never grows?" The eagle asked with an annoyed tone at the agile minded Slytherin.

"A mountain." He rolled his eyes, looking bored.

"I am a box with no corner or side. I hold a golden treasure inside. What am I?"

"An egg." He replied, yawning.

"It doesn't bark, it doesn't bite but still don't let you in a house. What is it?"

"A lock."

Shortly after providing the last correct answer, Draco felt as if an invisible wall of ice collapsed over him, with millions of frozen cut fractals smearing through all his insides.

"Yuck!" Draco jerked his body violently.

He raised his wand in the air and looked around, feeling uneasily disoriented for a second with that unwelcoming sensation. It was a feeling of complete emptiness and bottom nothingness: it was a sign that a ghost had passed right through his body, but where was it?

"Show yourself!"

A sharp distorted moaning resounded on the walls around him, but soon it stopped leaving a faint echo behind.

"Stop and speak to me, I won't hurt you." Draco pocketed the wand for he knew with whom he was dealing with, it was Ravenclaw's ghost: the Gray Lady.

"No one has been able to bring his promises to fulfilment because fate's darkness clouds the perception." Replied a soft and sad female voice as it got closer, still invisible to his eyes.

"I've said that I won't hurt you because you can't die twice, right?" He smirked maliciously.

Draco felt a freezing cold finger slowly tracing his cheek; he took a step back, shivering from such unpleasant physical interaction.

A blurred halo materialized in front of him, the incredible pale see-through projection of her ghost stared at him intensely, leaning even closer. Draco held his breath as the Gray Lady stared at her reflection in the sheer vastness of his amethyst blue eyes while breathing heavily for a while before disappearing behind a statue.

"Wait." He hissed as an unnatural icy fog escape through his open mouth, what had just happened to him?

Draco blinked a few times, he was not thinking clearly, indeed could not think at all. He felt like he had been thrown into a bottomless ice cold abyss and pulled out all of a sudden. He couldn't stop wondering what had the ghost done to him and why. He needed answers. He turned round and pointed his wand towards the statue.

"Dissendium!"

The statue slowly began to move, revealing its secret passage. He rushed inside, following her trail.

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It was pitch-black inside; it seemed to be a cold windowless place. Draco felt a bit disoriented as his eyes got adjusted to the darkness, he light coming from his wand hardly managed to light a small portion of what seemed to be not a room, but an endless cave. His footsteps echoed on the stone floor. He shook his head, trying to get rid of the strange sensation that was tickling still all over his body. He had never felt this cold before.

"You knew I'd follow you, what is it that you want to show me?" He shrugged, wrapping his arms tight around his body.

"I'm glad to have come across someone of your sort, you are a handsome and talented young man, and you are pursued by many for either your good and bad doings. You appear to be dangerous, without flaws or weaknesses. But we ghosts can see beyond: you've got many defects and vices. You are warming a snake on your bosom, and it is a snake that warms you." Her voice echoed on the icy walls.

"I take it that you're fully aware I'm a Slytherin, no need to use an allegory to point that out."

Draco considered unfair the fact of being dragged along an ancient hatred of hers towards Slytherin. He had nothing to do with the fact that The Bloody Baron killed her: Helena Ravenclaw, daughter of Rowena, founder of the Ravenclaw's House. He knew he made the wrong turn when he didn't contradict the Sorting Hat and followed Lucius' wishes. Draco's heart whished to choose Ravenclaw instead, but he was having second thoughts about that too, it didn't seem to be a good second choice either. He concluded that Hogwarts had been never a place for him.

"It was you, the ice cold presence I felt the moment I've entered the Castle." The blond paused, his breathing was unsteady, carefully evaluating her intentions inside his head. "It was you the one who called Peeves?!"

He looked like we was about to snap but he couldn't quite bring himself to do so for be felt again the unpleasant icy sensation numbing his senses. She was standing in front of him, just a couple of inches away from his face, caressing the back of his neck with those unnatural and chilly fingers of her.

"Quit touching me, I don't like it!" Draco jerked his body frantically once more, this time he started swearing under his breath.

"Whatever I want to do, I will be able to for I have already achieved a great deal to test my abilities." Her see-though glass eyes looked at him without blinking, there was a tint of satisfaction on her pale complexion.

"Whatever, I'm leaving." He shot back with an evasive manner walking towards the exit.

"Draco Malfoy, you've got a lot to learn about yourself, that's why I've stopped you before from leaving the Castle and called Peeves." She leaned back, granting Draco the distance he was demanding earlier.

"You can't hold me in here, just watch me leave the school grounds for good and never return!" He shoved his arms on the air, shaking off his frustration.

"You're free to go, free to be selfish or selfless, nasty or nice, serious...or frivolous." She was provoking him, in a desperate attempt to keep him there a little longer.

And it worked miracles for he stopped all of a sudden and turned back to face the ghost with fire in his eyes.

"I perfectly know that freedom of choice is a two-edged sword for just on the other side of liberation sits uncertainty and danger. Well, that's the price to pay for staying alive. Certainly you wouldn't understand that!" He was growing agitated as he spoke forcefully.

"You're always expecting too much from others, the same way you keep pushing yourself to be perfect in everything you do, you're wrong in that." She remained still, waiting to study his reaction with an intense interest.

"I won't play your game, Grey Lady." He rolled his eyes, he wasn't going to keep wasting his time with her.

"It's much better to make up the rules of the games you play as you go along than to be forced to play those games by other's rules: rules that don't seem to serve you and make no sense to you, right?" Her ethereal voice sounded threatening.

"Lady, you don't know me at all." He pulled up the cloak around his frozen neck, shrugging.

"What kind of game is being a spouse or a lover? To what extent are lovers supposed to submerge their own interests or desires to serve the interests or desires of their partners? At what point does devotion turn into subjugation?"

The ghost was leading him to her intended path, despite the fact that Draco was not going to be an easy pray to catch: she found the challenge tempting enough to give a try at least.

"If I happen to find out that you've messed with Luna's head, I'll make you pay for that. There are worse things than death, you know?!" He threatened with a harsh and fierce look in his amethyst blue eyes.

"I know what you're capable of doing and what's inside the viper's nest of your heart. You've already taken care to wreck and tear up what was left of her innocence." She said with an empty whisper.

"I'm a Slytherin, yes, but I'm not like The Bloody Baron. I'd never kill the woman I love!" He started to choke, barely daring to breathe for the air was frozen and it felt like piercing daggers inside his lungs.

"Are you sure about that? Just take a look in the mirror in front of you, go ahead." The ghost encouraged him with a suggesting voice.

Draco could barely see what was in front of him; he raised his wand and called out. "Lumos Solem!"

The blinding sunlight that erupted from his wand illuminated the whole place, reflecting the rainbow colours on the fractal crystal rocks of the cave. Draco, startled by it, blinked a few times, unable to move. He was standing in front of a large wall bevelled mirror. Inscribed across the top of the ornate golden frame was the following text: "_Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi". _He recognized it from a book he read when he was in first year: this was the Mirror of Erised, a magic mirror.

"_I show not your face but your heart's desire…"_He said to himself reading backwards the letters of the inscription as he rearranged the spaces in between.

Draco looked uncertain, despite the fact he got questions concerning him and Luna he was not at all convinced to step in front of it and confront his deepest desires. Still, he always wanted to know what would happen if he could suddenly see what was truly inside him, without any censorship or self-control, to experience the rawness of his heart, it was a tempting offer indeed.

He glanced nervously over his shoulder, feeling the ghost slender icy fingers clenching it. He was starting to feel very tired, tired of her, tired of that killing coldness surrounding him. His body wouldn't fight the numbness of her harsh cold presence any longer: he had to get away from there soon.

"Look!" She extended her slender and long arm pointing towards the mirror, straight at Draco's reflection.

He opened wide his eyes, as he tried to recognize himself in it. His reflection looked back at him with an undisturbed and strangely amused smirk curling his velvety pale lips. From behind his reflection appeared the blurred image of Narcissa Black, his mother, holding him tight as she rested her cheek on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

"Mother?" He hesitated for a moment, feeling his insides twist with angst.

Draco's eyes soared so he narrowed them, watching the images through his eyelids. His mother was gone from sight: it was Lucius Malfoy now by his side, flashing a proud smile as he hugged him in a tender fatherly manner. He saw himself hugging his father back, flashing an overwhelming happiness on his silk face as he stared from over his father's shoulder at a headstone with an inscription that read: HARRY POTTER R.I.P. Then he saw Voldemort approaching both men, strangely pleased to step into that unusual family scene. The all-black figure handled Lucius his unnatural sick pale flesh hand for a tight grip and then expected Draco to copy the gesture and reached out for his hand, clenching his fingers around Draco's hand in a possessive grip.

The images of the both men blurred and mingled into one, it was Luna now by his side, with a timid smile on her pink button flower lips. He saw him approaching her, encircling her fragile and soft pearl neck in between his hands, caressing her earlobes with fascination as he kissed her with passion, devouring her mouth, lost in her pearl eyes as he started to surround tighter his slender and long fingers around her flesh, choking her slowly, draining her energy until she dropped dead on the floor.

"NO!" He shouted, emptying his lungs all of a sudden, feeling ice cold stabbings as he breathed in again.

"You've realized that your feelings for her are the ones holding you back from becoming what you truly desire. You'll only achieve that supremacy if you let go of your passions. You know that emotions are obstacles in the way to the final goal: she is obstructing you from becoming perfect and flawless. She is making you weak, and that's unacceptable!"

"How could you possible know all that? Nevermind that you can see beyond, you can't possible know what I saw in that mirror, you can't enter my mind or my heart!"

Unexpectedly, the place went pitch-black again. He blinked hard, his eyes hurt way too much to keep them opened. Still he didn't need his eyes to feel the Gray Lady approaching him once more.

"I can because you let me, Draco Malfoy. That part of hers inside you is making you fall apart and if you don't stop that it will consume you entirely. The same is happening to her." She hissed with a thread of voice.

Draco couldn't see a damn thing again, not even her face that was just a couple of inches from his face. He grabbed his wand and waved it frantically in the air.

"Lumos!" He tried to look around through his eyelids, trying to find the way out as he run towards what he considered was the way from which he came.

He could distinguish a pale white light getting smaller as he ran towards it. The blond covered his face inside the hood and wrapped the cloak tight around his body as he jumped through the narrow hole, just in time before it closed behind him.

"Whooo!" Terry exclaimed as he watched Draco's slender figure coming right from the other side of the wall, flying through the air.

Draco touched ground with splendid and acutely grace on his two feet. As the Slytherin strengthen up, untangling the cloak from around his slender body, he pulled out his hood and tried to focus his eyes on the figure in front of him, for everything looked a bit blurred and out of focus. Soon he realized that the Ravenclaw's prefect was staring back at him with a dislocated open jaw.

"Malfoy….Draco Malfoy?!"

"Yes, it's me." Without much interest, Draco glanced at him.

"Oh man….just look at you…."

Terry frowned nervously, as he tried to gather strength to pull the words together and speak up.

"_What is it with this people that all of the sudden they act like a total freaks when they see me?" _Draco said to himself.

"Malfoy, you look as if you've either been recently out of a hypothermic shock or slowly entering into one as we speak!"

Terry couldn't stop staring back at Draco with his stupid mesmerized eyes: the blond's lips looked a sick shade of blue, there were dark hollow circles under his amethyst blue eyes and his slim body frame was standing a bit unsteady.

"Boot...you know what?" Draco hissed after coughing, softly lifting his wand towards him.

"No, what?" He said, as his knees started to shake.

"Confundo!" Draco paused, managing a tired smirk for his chopped lips hurt badly. "This is a dream. You're lazy and irresponsible git and you happen to dozed of during one of your rounds. You've never saw me tonight. Okay?"

"I must have dozed of during one of my rounds for I'm a lazy and irresponsible git. I never saw Draco Malfoy tonight, it's just a dream…"

The puzzled boy repeated staring at the nothingness as Draco walked slowly towards the dungeons, barely able to stop trembling from the shivers of his frozen body, longing for a long warm bath the moment he arrived at his dorm.

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	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER VIII

**CHAPTER VIII**

"_You've lied so much you think it's true_

_Do you know what the truth is?_

_How does someone get to be like you?_

_The king of all excuses._

_This time you're gonna get it_

_All the things you've done coming back to you_

_This time you've gonna feel it_

_Your conscience slowly suffocating you_

_In time you will regret it_

_Say goodbye to all the things you've gotten used to_

_Life will find a way to bring this karma to you."_

_(STAIND – "King __of __all __Excuses")_

A tall and enviable athletic male silhouette dressed with the Slytherin's grey, black and green colour uniform walked through the Great Hall outwardly calm, emotionless. His judging eyes moved secretly from face to face as he passed by across the crowd of sleepy students leaving the room after having breakfast. Many heads turned at the sight of him: some were gossiping quietly while others blushed a bit mesmerized by his closeness.

He caught sight out of the corner of the eye of Terry Boot, walking along with a Head Girl from his same House. They were talking to each other, the volume of their voices were perfectly audible for that pair of curious ears that suddenly aimed in their direction after hearing the name of Draco Malfoy being spoken out loud.

"This is way too much for anyone to handle at the moment. I've even dreamt about him when I dozed off in one of my rounds last night. Everyone says he's a hero, but he still gives me the creeps." Terry shrugged, looking pathetic.

"For better or worse, almost everyone in this school has dreamt about Draco Malfoy every now and then. I personally can't believe he's here! Just look at him, he's so gorgeous, so darkly perfect!" She replied reflexively, without stopping to think how mellow she was sounding.

The Slytherin decided then to hide behind a statue in order to be completely hidden from the crowd and let go a sound sigh. His heart was beating fast, pumped with a sudden rush of adrenaline. He also dreamt about Draco Malfoy, but not every now and then, he had quite a fixation with that stunning young blond who happened to be his best friend.

"Did you know that Blaise Zabini came back as well and already caused a scene?!" She said changing completely the subject as her cheeks turned from a blushing red to a sickly paper-white.

"What are you talking about?" The prefect lifted an eyebrow, thinking she was probably pulling his leg.

"He's been caught snogging one of his girlfriends in a bathroom!" Her eyes opened wide.

"No way, he's certainly catching up the time he's been away. Do you happen to know who the girl was?" He said half envious, half curious.

"Loony Lovegood." The girl didn't seem at all pleased to release that name all of a sudden.

"Really?"

"Yes, she's always been a total disgrace for our House. She always made us look bad, awfully bad, and now this?!" She rolled her eyes, looking really annoyed.

Blaise's jaw tensed as he came out from his hiding place. He shook his head wondering if he heard them correctly as he looked sharply at the pair of Ravenclaws heading towards their next class. He cursed under his breath for everything around Hogwarts was slowly turning his and Draco's presence into a tragic parade. Lies were meant to twist reality, but the fact that some of the students find amusing to confuse and entangle the facts in their stupid minds was even worse than any deception, it was a nightmare.

He swallowed hard haunted by too many conflicting emotions for he knew a lot about lies and deception, his life was a complete façade. Blaise knew that lying always helped him, but it has been mostly the fact that he was too good when it comes to deceive and lie himself, that way the chances to deceive others came easy. Self-deception was advantageous: it helped him lie to others more convincingly. So by concealing the truth from himself, he was concealing it from the others, and Draco wasn't the exception.

Draco pocketed his wand after performing some minor _corrective measures_ towards those who dared to cross the line and got near him, in other words: he'd performed couple of minor dark magic jinxs and curses to trim the increasing legion of students who were starting to idolize him. He wasn't suffering from any panic attack: it was more a sensation of hatred mingled with a tint of rage what was driving him to do that. He simply despised being surrounded by people without the tiniest sense of individuality for he considered all of them to be components of a huge mindless mob.

His _darkly perfect_ slender built frame surveyed the hall with a keen eye. He looked thoughtful as he made his way through some students, dismissing them with a harsh scowl as he passed by, heading straight to where Blaise was standing. He noticed that his best friend, undoubtedly gifted with a mind of his own, seemed to be in deep thinking yet with a confused frown on his facial complexion. Before the blond could open his mouth and ask him about the previous night whereabouts, the jet haired young man spoke first.

"Shortly after I saw that Snape took you, I entered the girl's bathroom and managed to drag Luna out of it the very same moment McGonagall walked in front of the door and caught me red handed. She put me in detention for my so called _indecent behaviour_. She thought I was snogging Luna, can you believe this!? Anyway, since it was all lost for me, I've told McGonagall that it had been my fault: that I was stalking Luna, followed her into the bathroom and she was totally unaware of my purposes. Still she had to do detention time as well!" Blaise said talking as fast as ever without entangling his tongue, starting to feel really sick for it all was so tragically ironic.

"I wonder what's worse: to pass for a pervert or end up with McGonagall in detention, I guess the later. Nevertheless, I believe I can take it from here, you can stay at the Chateau if you want and wait us there." The blond tossed out with a casual tone, dismissing his friend.

"You're planning on staying?!" Blaise's shocked face was comical.

"Yes, there are plenty of ways to get what you want when you really want it." Draco said as he leaned forward, lowering his voice.

"What happened to you last night?" He wondered fixing his dark eyes on the blonde's sceptic gaze.

"I was confronted with two different points of view and yet they mysteriously aligned in my staying here. They want to confuse me, trimming my freedom of action, taking away my freedom of choice…but they won't trick me, oh no, I'm the only one who controls my fate, not them." He shook his head, a mocking smirk was creeping slowly over his face.

"I'll suggest you start making sense, the sooner the better." It was obvious that Blaise had no idea what Draco was talking about; actually he was starting to question his friend's sanity at that point.

Frowning, Draco replied. "Snape basically said that Luna and I are opposites and complements, while the Gray Lady…"

"Ravenclaw's ghost?!" Blaise caught that single image and ran with it in his mind.

"She seems to be an avid protector of all the students in her House, and has deeply-rooted hatred for us Slytherins. That ghost hates my guts more than anything and is protecting Luna; probably she's even turning her against me."

The blond brushed his silk fringe with one hand over his forehead, disguising his pale amethyst blue eyes. He seemed to do that whenever he felt nervous, like a way to hide that notorious physical change in him.

"I certainly won't like to miss the drama. I'm staying too!" Blaise said softly.

Both young men looked at each other, like staring into a mirror and exchanged glances, each suspecting the other's thoughts. Both were extremely good in Occlumency and too proud to speak up the minds despite being best friends. Draco would never admit that the help of his partner would certainly come handy because of his pride and self-sufficient character and, on the other hand, Blaise would never admit that he needed to feel useful, but most of all that he'd never dare to leave Draco's side ever again, no matter what.

"Blaise, did Luna speak to you at least or give you a message for me, anything?" He asked, trying not to look that obviously curious and pathetic.

"I couldn't understand a thing she was saying with that ear-piercing yell of hers! I've still managed to catch a word or two, saying something like I wasn't listening and she wanted to stay here at Hogwarts, but I actually didn't pay attention. Mate, she was freaking me out with her screams, that wife of yours had lost her marbles for real!" Blaise replied, shaking his head.

Draco ignored completely his friend's last remark and crossed his arms. "Nevermind, we've got a plus: they're completely clueless about me and Luna for they think she's with you…" He paused, checking up Blaise from head to toe with a tight smirk and added. "She's relatively safe as long as people don't connect her with me."

"And one con: Luna's reputation went down the drain. I've just heard some gits talking crap about her and me, distorting the facts. I really couldn't care less about the things they'd say about me but I'd never realize it was always this harsh for Luna. Even her own classmates don't miss the chance to bring her down, I kind of pity her." He shrugged, staring at the blond in silent.

Draco let go a profound sight and nodded his head at his friend's words. He felt a tight knot on his throat that suddenly blended with a hot rush of vengeance towards those who dared to talk ill about his wife. He then stretched a bit his back, he looked tired and it was still early in the morning: a complete day ahead of him. Still no sign of Luna's whereabouts for Blaise checked the Great Hall during breakfast but couldn't find her there and Draco searched the corridors with no luck whatsoever.

"Speaking of the devil…" Blaise looked up from above Draco's shoulder and frowned.

Draco didn't have to turn round to realize who Blaise was talking about: it was Minerva McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor, the one approaching them with a serious look upon her face.

Placing her hands around her hips, she started talking, for Blaise seemed a non-stop preaching yet for Draco meant nothing, for he was not listening to her. The blond made the pretence he was paying attention as the old woman talked, catching some words in the air. He didn't like the direction her monologue was heading, she made clear that it was mandatory to show up to their designated classes and that both needed to catch up on the subjects they missed during their absence as fast as possible. Draco smirked at that remark for he already knew everything on the syllabus Snape left him. Their first class of the day happened to be Potions, with no other than Gryffindor.

Draco and Blaise moved silently through the corridors, synchronizing their moves while pacing the floor, catching the eyes of everybody around them as they walked by. At that point both Slytherins were thinking that their mere presence was enough to get the most shocking and disturbing reactions out of people.

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The room hummed with murmurs and rumours about the events that happened the night before. The students kept their gossiping in a very low volume yet expressing their restrained voices with a fluid body language.

Draco entered the classroom and the fact that he couldn't hear what they were saying didn't stop him from knowing exactly what they were talking about. The blond knew that there was always a sign from the body acting and reacting to a transmitted message. He carefully study every facial expression, every body gesture and posture that gave away the context of the conversations held by those around him. His eyes stopped from now and then catching signs expressing surprise, conveying anger, trading jokes and even confessing secrets, nothing escaped his scrupulous field search.

The blond Slytherin took sit and started to get the things out of his backpack in a very meticulous and paused manner. Once he managed to have it all set, his amethyst blue eyes fell on the desk, somehow the way he organized the instruments he needed for the class didn't quite suit him. He lifted his gaze and stared at the clock on the wall, professor Slughorn seemed to be running late. That gave him some time extra to begin rearranging the instruments in a way that would definitely be more practical and efficient to brew a potion.

Blaise stared at the blond in silence, knowing exactly what was bothering his best friend's mind. The black jet haired young man knew that there was nothing wrong with the potion's brewing kit, no matter how obsessive Draco was with that kind of things, something else was bothering his mate, and it was not Harry Potter for he was absent that morning along with that Granger mudblood and that Weasley red-headed git. Draco's distress had to do with Luna's mere existence. He wondered how possible that helpless little thing could cause such an enormous disaster to this best friend's life. He took his potion's book and slammed it on the desk with resentment.

The sound of wood creaking behind him called Blaise's attention, the heavy built figure of professor Slughorn had just entered the classroom. He took sit behind the desk, resting that massive humanity over a fragile armchair.

"'When I woke up this morning I thought about teaching you how to prepare the _Blood-Replenishing Potion_, the very same that tops up the blood levels of the drinker after injury. But just when I was about to finish my breakfast I came up with another idea and I said to myself, how about teaching how to brew the _Emerald Green Potion_ instead?" The old man looked at the paper-white faces in front of him with a mocking amused face.

The students remained silent, unable to react to what the old man was saying. He shook his head, and rested his gaze at the only person that happened to stare right back at him with a serious look. Unlike the rest of the sleepy faces, that student happened to be fully awake but yet with a mysterious blurry light in his eyes.

"Mr. Malfoy, you've always proved to be remarkable in this class and let me tell you that your presence was deeply missed. I hope the time you've been absent doesn't put you behind the rest." He said, looking eager at what would be Draco's reaction.

"I doubt that Sir for I can brew both potions and have them ready by the end of the class." Draco replied casually, without removing his cold eyes from the old man.

"That's the spirit! Would you kindly explain to the rest of your classmates what the _Emerald Green Potion _does?"

"It induces fear, delirium and extreme thirst. It is highly debilitating and will cause death if left untreated." Draco stretched his back on the seat and smirked weakly.

"Remarkable, ten points to Slytherin! We'll focus on preparing just one, is that a problem for you Mr. Malfoy?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.

"No problem, both are useful, it's like choosing between an offence or defence manoeuvre." He shot back copying the elder's scepticism.

"And which side you happen to be _playing_, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Neither, I'm a _seeker_, Sir." He rolled his eyes.

"Choose between the two Mr. Malfoy so that we can start the class, please." He asked, leaning forward on the desk, tapping the edge of it with his thick fingers.

"I'll go for the green one." Draco sighed, looking bored.

"Okay that's it then. I believe you wouldn't find trouble in helping a less fortunate student in the meantime. Would you kindly assist Longbottom in the brewing of the potion so that he got it right this time?" The old man arched amusingly his gray eyebrows.

The young Slytherin shook his head and frowned, with a clear "no" stamped all over his face. But Slughorn, avoiding Draco's harsh gaze, stared at Neville and encouraged him to pick up his things and took a place besides the blond.

Neville stood up, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, looking really frightened. He felt a chill shake his spine: that was a normal, for he felt it whenever he met Draco.

"Thank you Mr. Malfoy for your cooperation!" Slughorn celebrated.

Draco lowered his eyelids inspecting Neville from head to toe, then turned and ignored him, leaning back in his seat. The Gryffindor felt the anger and sarcasm mingled in the blonde's stabbing stare, he wondered what was going to be next, probably Draco would drown him inside his cauldron if he got the potion wrong? Draco glanced at Neville sitting beside him, the poor Gryffindor boy was still shivering slightly.

The blond started scribbling down Slughorn's instructions, making some extra notes and correcting others he already wrote on his parchment, for he happened to disagree with the professor's instructions and was certain of a better way to make the potion not just right, but perfect. Then he proceed to organize and categorize the required ingredients and inspected at the supplies displayed on his desk, once he was somewhat pleased with that, he started brewing the potion without saying a word.

Neville could feel a wall inside his head almost physically blocking his ability to think, he just started to copy what Draco was doing with a nervous and shaking pulse. He couldn't find the pestle for his mortar, Slughorn offered to borrow him one and headed to the storage-room on the back of the classroom. Neville was still looking inside his backpack, turning upside down its content when a folded painted piece of paper happened to fall besides Draco's feet, catching the blonde's attention. He picked it up and unfolded it, recognizing the artist immediately: it was Luna's drawing of Trevor.

"_She can't stop being so damn generous and sweet and unselfish." _Draco said to himself, he then turned to face Neville and asked: "Where did you get this?"

"It's a present from my girlfriend." Afraid to stare back at the Slytherin and unable to focus his brown eyes on anything in particular, he continued to look inside his backpack for a pestle.

"Your…GIRLFRIEND?!"

It was impressive to see Draco feeding off his most dark emotions. He heard a twisted laughter echoing inside his head and his view was becoming blurred and shaky.

"_It won't be that easy. You won't get me to lose control." _The Slytherin broke eye contact and tried to calm down.

Draco closed his eyes hard and rubbed his forehead. He definitely had a headache and he had lost control a long time ago. Neville's potion began rising from the edge of the cauldron with large bubbles, erupting as they got bigger and bigger, suddenly the potion exploded with a loud bombing sound. Neville jumped back, looking startled at the blond who was staring back at him with a killing look. Draco's amethyst blue eyes turned darker than ever, unable to repress the thoughts and emotions that were threatened to explode just like Neville's potion.

"You're dead nebbish toad." Draco said with a deep and hollow voice as he got closer and provided a well-focused blow to the front side of Neville's throat using only his trigger index.

"Suffer you filthy liar." The blond paused and hissed in Neville's ear. "You might feel like your insides turn and twist inside you with no reason whatsoever. You can even feel your internal organs collapse but you'll be still alive to witness all that…well…at least during the first part of it…but hopefully you wouldn't pull it through." Draco then crossed his arms and took a step back, enjoying the view.

Neville's pink face turned into a deep violet as he fall to the floor, twisting and jerking his body like a helpless creature fighting a deadly wound. The rest of the students gathered around Neville, unable to react at what they were seeing.

"What's going on here?!" Someone shouted.

Draco turned and found himself inches away from Slughorn's fluffy face.

"What happened to your partner, Mr. Malfoy?" The old man stopped for a breath or dramatic effect, it was difficult to tell which exactly.

Slughorn couldn't continue to hold his judging stare on Draco's deep amethyst blue eyes for they were impossible to read and rushed to aid Neville, performing a silent healing charm without waiting a second longer for the blond to reply.

"I have no idea….." The Slytherin smirked.

"I can't believe this! Tell me Longbottom, how could you possible made that potion explode when not a single component of it, no matter how wrongly mixed, can produce such effect?" The professor said, unable to accept this bizarre turn of events.

The Gryffindor puzzled boy shrugged. He looked unsure how to hold his body after such tremendous frenzy convulsion. All he wanted was to stop shaking. He took sit, slowly catching his breath.

"Class dismissed!" The man shouted and added with a piercing look as he got closer to the blond. "Stay just there I want a word with you, Mr. Malfoy."

One by one the rest of the students started to leave in silent, exchanging shocked looks, motioning towards the door.

"First, I'd like you to apologize." The old man narrowed his eyes and stared at Draco with a silent accusing stare.

"What?! Why?!' The blond sighed heavily, throwing a hand in the air.

"Where to start… oh yes, you've failed to assist your partner!" Slughorn frowned, looking deadly serious.

Neville looked at Draco and held out his hand expectantly, feeling pretty damn pathetic.

"I won't apologize." Draco reserved the right to be angry about it and refused to shake hands with Neville.

"Longbottom, you may go, I want to have a word with your partner…alone please." Slughorn muttered under his breath something inaudible and looked up. "Mr. Malfoy you'd better consider seriously helping your classmate to improve at potions."

Draco looked somewhat uncomfortable as he threw a quick glance over his shoulder catching Neville's exiting the classroom.

He let out a forced breath and crossed his arms. "Longbottom's stupidity is airborne! Nobody can teach that git and spending time with him is just like submitting willingly to a brain trepanation!"

"You either help him or inscribe yourself to an anger management program." The old man shot back.

"Anger management? I don't need it! What are the charges, he just happened to collapse on the floor. Why all of the sudden the judging fingers are pointed at me?!" Draco replied evasively, without looking at him.

There was no humour in Slughorn facial expression, he sighed as if being forced to explain the obvious to someone who denied the truth with such unbearable impunity.

"Because you've happened to be only one in the room with the required knowledge to cause that to Longbottom, that's why. The moment you touched him, he started convulsing. You've been trained to be a Death Eater. I know what wizards like you can do without having to recur to magic or obvious physical aggression. You need to control those_ skills_ of yours Mr. Malfoy, or you'll end up killing someone innocent this time."

Draco's blood ran cold, he felt himself uncomfortably exposed. His face shifted quickly from frustration to resignation. He hated the fact that the old man knew one of his many secrets, but at least he wouldn't have to mentally search for another made-up deceptive statement anymore when confronting him again.

The blonde's jaw muscles tightened momentarily, he then let go a deep sigh. "I'll take the anger management sessions, Sir."

"Perfect, you'll start immediately. Here's something that would help you with the first step of the program: Relaxation. It would help you handle your emotions and control your anger. Break the seal of this parchment and unfold it tonight, preferable before you go to sleep or take a bath and follow the instructions carefully." The old man handled the scroll to his student and leaned back on the armchair, which creaked a bit under his massive weight.

Draco blinked twice and threw a questioning look at the old man. Then he nodded and pocketed the parchment, leaving the room in silence.

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	9. Chapter 9

A/N:

Thank you all for your reviews! I love you all!

For those who were surprised to see Blaise acting like that in the previous Chapter get ready to see what happens in this one!

Draco and Blaise are alike in many aspects, no wonder they're best friends,  
and when they want something they'll do the impossible to get it. :evil  
smirk:

Yeah, I know, this story ships Draco/Luna but that doesn't mean other  
people wouldn't like to have a piece of the gorgeous Malfoys' couple.

If I had to define this 9th Chapter with one single word that would have to  
be…HOT!

CHAPTER IX

**CHAPTER ****IX**

"_I love myself I want you to love me  
When I feel down I want you above me  
I search myself I want you to find me  
I forget myself I want you to remind me._

_I don't want anybody else  
When I think about you I touch myself  
Ooh I don't want anybody else  
Oh no, oh no, oh no._

_I close my eyes a__nd see you before me  
Think I would die if you were to ignore me  
A fool could see just how much I adore you  
I get down on my knees, I'd do anything for you."_

_(DIVINYLS – "I Touch Myself")_

Draco threw his cloak and backpack over one of the tables at the library in a clear sign that he didn't want anyone to think or even dare to sit near him. His mood was a very dark one, he attempted to read from a thick volume, but he couldn't. He felt restless, and the uneasiness inside him wouldn't, no matter how hard he tried, allow him to focus on the reading of the book.

"I'm glad to know you've changed your mind and decided to come back to Hogwarts." Someone in front of him said suddenly.

His amethyst blue eyes lost momentary the focus of the page he was reading, still he didn't look up for he recognized that voice and also that stinging smell: it was Harry Potter. Draco looked away for a moment, searching for his wand, he then turned back again at the page of the book.

"Is this the beginning of a conversation here?" The Slytherin arched one eyebrow, without lifting his eyes from the book, tapping his forehead with the wand.

"I guess I've never thank you properly for what you've done. Thanks to you professor Lupin is alive, I'm truly grateful for that." Harry's emerald green eyes narrowed a bit, swallowing hard as he continued. "Bellatrix Lestrange took something precious from me once, I'm glad she paid for it too."

Finally, unable to take it, the blond slapped the book shut, using the wand as marker.

"Potter, you've just happened to profit from a very dysfunctional family. I'd never got along with my aunt. Now get lost, I can't stand the sight…neither the smell of you anymore." He lifted up his eyes, throwing a stabbing stare at the Gryffindor.

Harry pressed his fingers to his forehead and closed his eyes. He felt a strange pain in his scar when he looked at Draco. His scar hurt him in a strange similar way like when he was close to Voldemort.

Draco didn't notice when Harry took off for his eyes were catching something else, something inexplicable captivating, beautiful and enigmatic, it was no other than Luna Lovegood-Malfoy who just had entered the library, seemingly upset about something, carrying a couple of books under her arm. He tried to make eye contact with her, but it was evident that she was avoiding his gaze at any cost.

Luna felt his presence a few feet behind her as she tried to look busy, her eyes neither rise nor turn, she continued to read from the book she just picked up from the shelf as his footsteps approached her. When she looked up, Draco was standing beside her, leaning against a book shelf with his arms crossed.

"I suspect you ran away because you wanted to hide something from me, and let me tell you that I'll find that out sooner or later." He smirked, leaning closer.

"I'm not good at Occlumency, I can't hide anything from you no matter how hard I try." She said, avoiding his eyes, flipping through the book pages, mumbling to herself.

He yawned, looking bored at her remark. "I've always preferred to hear it coming willingly from that gorgeous mouth of yours. I believe that you'll master the art of blocking your mind without problems, after all you're a Malfoy. Besides you've improved a lot after those private classes and everything I've taught you during our ….brief….honeymoon." He munched on those final words with resentment.

"The more I learn from you and about you, the less I think I know you at all. You almost kill Neville earlier today!" Luna's cheeks blushed with restrained anger, revealing the reason of her distress.

"You're right, I _almost_ kill him. Next time he'll go all the way to the other side if he dares to provoke me again." He looked away, a dangerous smirk curled his lips, he didn't look sorry at all.

"Why Draco, you're willing to kill him just because he happens to be my best friend and I care about him?" She asked, holding back the tears that threatened to blind her eyes.

He turned to face her again, this time he looked deadly serious. "He's a filthy liar and because of that he deserves to die."

She pursed her lips, trying to her best to stop trembling.

"I know there's no reason why I should worry, he's still a stupid git, still I'm a very jealous man, can't help it. So it's up to you, sweetheart, stay away from him." He arched an eyebrow, fixing his stare on her button roses lips.

"Draco, you can't be serious! Please get some sleep: that would help you rearrange your thoughts." Her lips were silently trembling; she was starting to feel uncomfortable by his closeness.

"That's a great idea, sleep with me." His gaze was lingering in inappropriate places before settling on her face.

"Stop teasing me and find something to entertain you if you're bored." She shot back, eyeing the title on the spine of the book on her hand.

"Besides you?" He ran a hand through his silk blond hair and shook his head. "No, I don't think so."

He performed a mirroring charm that Luna felt immediately translated into her body. He was burning inside with desire, he wanted to breathe her in for a while, and then he wanted to touch her, in a lot more places.

"Draco, what do you think you're doing?!" She was barely able to contain the anxious in her voice an even less to hold his eyes. Her heart was in her throat by then.

"You tell me, how does it feel?" He said in a voice that left no doubt he knew exactly what he wanted.

"Please don't get any closer." She jumped, bumping against the book shelf.

"I believe you know exactly what I'm thinking and what I want to do with you and to you. I can feel that your body wants me too." He was really turned on there was a deep and lusting look in his burning amethyst blue eyes.

"Draco, don't!" She finally snapped the book shut.

"Luna, I can't stop thinking about you, about us..." Not bothering to censor his thoughts, he continued "…naked on the bed, the touch of your body against mine and the little incoherent sounds of pleasure you make when I touch you." That was a mental picture he wanted desperately to hang on to.

Draco grabbed her by her shoulders and took her to a desert corner, so that nobody would see them. He pushed her body against the wall as he leaned closer, tightening his grip. She looked fearfully into his eyes. They were both trembling with desire. His face was inches from hers, every fibre screaming out inside him, longing to unleash the lust he was feeling for her right there, against the wall and the book shelf. He barely managed to brush his lips against hers for she pulled him apart immediately, turning her head sharply, biting her lip. His pants were straining at the crotch and he was shocked at himself, so was Luna.

"Please Draco, try using a freezing charm: that will do." She begged, trying to push him off again.

But this time he released her roughly and hit his head on purpose against the wall with a mix of anger and frustration, it was definitely not the place or the time for such intimate encounter.

"That does the trick for you?!" He looked at her rubbing his forehead, disguising his burning desire as much as possible, but the pain in his eyes was overwhelming.

Her pearl grey eyes were sparkling with tears. She sucked up a deep breath and passed by him, taking a sit at the nearest empty table she found for her knees were trembling. Luna pushed the chair and leaned forward, almost squeezing her stomach against the border of the table. Her legs were rubbing against each other, revealing that she was truly nervous of those deep feelings that tormented her whenever he was near. Draco stopped behind her and rested his hands on the back of the chair, leaning closer.

"I know you want me as badly as I do." He moistened his lips with the tip of his tongue and smirked at her. "If you keep holding out on me like this, and I'm going to have to get really nasty."

She sighed deeply and closed her eyes, she heard the blood rushing through her ears. Then slowly shook her head and caught sight of him as he picked up his things and started to leave the library. He threw a quick and very sexy look at her before he turned to the exit, and that melted her completely.

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Draco admired the place with curious interest, it was about five times the size of his prefect's room; the windows were decorated with colourful vitrauxs of mermaids, aquatic plants and flowers. There was this huge porcelain _bathtub_ that resembled more like a pool for the maximum depth should be about six and a half feet. That night, it was the first time he stepped inside the prefect's bathroom and he was pleased with the view, making the perfect spot to carry out Slughorn's relaxation session.

He was cautious by nature, always expecting the worse. After securing the place with a countless number of protection charms, he stripped off his clothes and wrapped a cotton towel around his waist, taking sit by the edge of the pool with both his feet on the water, testing its temperature. The warmth of the soap perfumed water was slowly steaming up the crystal panels and porcelain tiles of the walls.

Draco stretched the towel over the stone floor, leaving him completely naked with his both feet still soaked in the water. He looked at the ceiling before closing his eyes for a moment, turning the events of the past couple of days over in his mind. Things have definitely not developed as expected, he wanted her there, he wanted Luna everywhere: in his dreams, in his life but mostly in his bed. He wanted her non-stop, all the time, every day, forever. His patience was running on the ragged edge by then, he opened his amethyst blue eyes and stared at the folded parchment besides him. After breaking the wax seal with his thumb, the parchment flew besides him and unfolded its full length revealing its written content as the golden letters started to read by themselves with Slughorn's deep and raspy voice:

"_Find a comfortable place where you can relax and be completely quiet...relax... take a deep breath in and hold it..."_

"Detineo!" He held his wand high and shook his head, looking very annoyed.

How was he supposed to relax while hearing that old man's awful voice? He had to do something about it, or the session would be a complete waste of his time.

"I can't get over you, can get through you, can't get inside you…." He paused, a mocking devilish smirk curled his lips; he pointed at the scroll with an amused smirk.

"Creo Luna's vox. Pergo!" He then lied down, on his back, against the towel displayed on the floor and let go a deep sigh.

"_Now gather up the tension in your body, and release it as you exhale...take another deep breath, and as you exhale, you breathe in and out, let your thoughts just come and go...relaxing more and more..." _It was Luna's soft voice now the one that was reading the instructions on the scroll.

"Yeah, that's more like it." He hissed, and he closed his eyes, making himself comfortable.

He started by relaxing his neck as he breathed in and out easy and slow. He placed one hand on his abdomen and the other on his chest, feeling the soft rhythm of his breathing as he hummed quietly.

"_Your mind follows your attention and along with it your thoughts will go too. So now focus your attention upon a single physical object, or upon a sensation, even upon an emotion. Picture it clearly in your mind. The more definite and specific your idea of what it is the better. Picture yourself having it or doing it. Feel the energy of desire welling up inside you." _Her words echoed on the bathroom walls and created the relaxing atmosphere Draco was looking forward to sink in.

Draco felt the energy flowing through his body as his hands continued to feel his breathing, but suddenly his finger tips became hot and throbbing, his palms were sweating, probably for the warmth of the air. He felt the energy coursing down on him; he parted his legs shoulder width as the tingling sensation began to haunt him and his body started to vibrate.

"_Imagine the energy exploding out from you in all directions at once: a flowing, endless river of energy..."_

He imagined Luna's naked body on top of him as blood started pumping his private parts, feeling the warmth and moistness of his own flesh, inciting desire and extremely intense emotions inside him. His hands were circling the sensation of his quivering flesh in the throes of orgasm. He heard his own moan rushing past his ears, as his body jerked in its release, hard and satisfying.

"_You are coming back...take a deep breath and begin to re-orient yourself...and when you're ready, count to three...and on the count of three open your eyes, and return feeling relaxed, alert and at peace." _The parchment then folded itself in a roll and landed on the floor, next to him.

"Luna…" He let go a deep breath all of a sudden and opened wide his eyes, coming back to his senses. "…you know it will always be me the one who makes you sweat…and viceversa." He said, feeling his body all sweaty and sticky.

There was a teasing smirk curling his lips, his face was all blushed and his heart was beating a little too fast, he was trying to catch his breath as he lifted his back from the floor and took sit. That has been so vivid and so clear in his mind that he actually believed Luna has been there with him all the time.

All of a sudden a buzzing sound started to echo on the bathroom's walls. One of Draco's protection spells had turned on at the sign of an intruder: someone had been caught just outside the door in one of the blonde's traps. He picked up his wand, performed a quick cleansing spell and wrapped the towel around his waist as he padded barefoot towards the door. He silenced the alarm when he realized who was on the other side of the door for it was a familiar high-pitch tone scream what he heard after the trap was activated.

"Don't you dare to move or you'll make things worse Blaise. I've set a series of traps!" He said clenching his teeth, muttering some incantations in order to deactivate them.

"Traps? You moron!" There was tension and frustration in Blaise's voice.

"If you fell in that simply jinx to say I'm _moronic_ is to say you're _idiotic_!" Draco yelled at Blaise from the other side of the door.

Blaise stopped all of the sudden to twist and turn on the floor and lifted up immediately, straightening his clothes. He leaned on the door, placing both hands at the sides of the doorframe and started to swear unpronounceable words towards Draco. But that came to a sudden halt when he heard strange noises starting with a shocked hollow gasp, a crushing fall followed by a painful moan and finally the sound of a body hitting hard the water's surface. Blaise swallowed painfully and started to knock on the door, calling for his friend.

"Draco, are you alright?!" But there came no answer from the other side. "Come on mate, talk to me!"

Blaise's heart was pounding faster and faster as he entered straight into a panic attack. He tried to open the door but he couldn't, he took off his wand from his pocket and aimed it to the door.

"Bombarda!" A white dense grey smoke came from the hollow entrance that moments ago was a thick wood bathroom's door.

He stepped inside and scanned the place as the air started to clear around him. The room was hardly illuminated with a couple of candles and the atmosphere was suffocating and strangely cold. There was a very thin ice layer on the stone floor, that made is very slippery to walk through it. Nevertheless, he rushed towards the pool, sliding towards the edge of it, for the last sound he heard was of a body hitting hard the water. He saw something that made his stomach turn upside down: it was Draco's unconscious body lying on the bottom of the pool. The water was reddish with the blood coming from the blonde's injured head. Without spending another second, Blaise took off his cloak and jumped to save his friend. Once he came out, trembling from the contact with the freezing water and all his clothes dripping wet, he placed Draco's unconscious naked body over his dry cloak and wrapped it up with it.

"Anapneo!" Blaise voice was shaking with a mix of terror and desperation. "Ennervate!"

Draco awoke all of the sudden and started to cough, he blinked hard a few times before focusing his pale amethyst blue eyes on Blaise's face. He noticed then that the black jet haired man was sobbing and smiling at him at the same time.

"Merlin, you're alive!" Blaise hugged him tighter as he placed both his arms around, wrapping Draco's naked body with the cloak like a cocoon.

"What…how?" The blond chocked on his words, looking confused.

"Mate, seems that you've slipped, knocked your head with the edge of the bathtub and fell into the water. You've got a nasty open cut on your forehead and you're bleeding. I must take you to the infirmary, now!" Blaise replied, talking as fast as possible without entangling with his tongue in his own desperation.

He pressed his soaked shirt's sleeve softly around the open wound in Draco's forehead after leaning his friend's head over his shoulder and lifted him up the floor with his strong arms.

"You're a light-weight pathetic bony git!" Blaise said half teasing, half serious as he wrapped his arms around Draco's slender body frame.

"No! Just put me down, it's just a scratch." Draco said waving a hand on the air, tapping his friend's shoulder like it was nothing. Blaise nodded reluctantly and kneeled on the floor without releasing Draco from his tight grip.

There was something shiny and squared hanging from Blaise's neck that caught the blonde's attention: it seemed to be a fine sterling locket. Draco aimed to grab it but his hand missed the target and fall numbed. And right then, after he closed and opened his groggy eyes for the umpteenth time, he found hard to focus his vision. He felt warmer than before and realized that what was warming his naked body was no other than Blaise's soaked in sculpted silhouette holding him tighter than ever.

Draco tried to get rid of that tight embrace as he made his best to speak but he couldn't fill his lungs enough to do it properly so he hissed to Blaise: _"The wand, I need it…"_

The blond felt like he was about to pass out, he closed his eyes and rested his head back, moaning. But the soaked in Slytherin didn't hear the blonde's words, instead he caught in full Draco's moan on his ear and felt his face flushed, he dragged a hand through his damp black jet blocks and exhaled strongly. He tried to stop his body from trembling as he breathed deeply, squeezing that half-conscious naked body against him once more.

"Draco, don't you dare to pass out, you've got to stay awake, okay?" He cupped the blonde's chin with one hand shook it a bit.

The blond nodded, as he tried in vain to open his eyes, revealing only the whiteness of his orbs. It was evident that he was entering in shock. Draco felt his skull splitting in two with the soreness of a killer headache. He tried to phrase some words, but only managed a few tired moans of pain.

Blaise leaned closer, trying to catch something that Draco was saying as he buried his face against those soaked silk blond blocks.

"Don't you worry, I'm here." He hissed, breathing Draco's scent as he got more and more intoxicated with it.

He then traced Draco's forehead with trembling fingers, pulling the blood soaked blocks of the fringe away from that gorgeous pale face, muttering some silent cleansing and healing spells in the process as he continued to trace with his fingers his friend's sculpted facial features. He continued the invisible trail with his fingers towards the chin, the Adam's apple, circling the neck then he aimed lower towards the blonde's collar bone. He stopped at the chest and carefully pressed one ear against that pale and silk skin, feeling Draco's heartbeat following a soft but steady rhythm.

"Draco, can you hear me?" Blaise let go a silent sigh and bite his lip, waiting for his friend's reply.

It seemed that Draco was taking longer now to react; Blaise grabbed the blonde's hand tight in his and asked again, waiting for some sign. Draco nodded, freeing his hand with an attempt to summon his wand but failed as his hand got numbed once more. Draco felt helpless, he closed his blurred amethyst eyes with resentment.

Blaise rearranged the cloak that was wrapping that gorgeous naked body when he suddenly caught sight of something that definitely mesmerized him and blushed madly, unable to stop staring at Draco's fully exposed manhood. He didn't think it twice and started to tease around that private part welcoming the fact that Draco was far too drowsy to react to his touch, otherwise he wouldn't let Blaise have his fun. His sweaty hand was eager to encircle and pump the blonde's dozed off flesh and bring it back to life. For a split second, possibilities he'd never considered flashed through his mind but suddenly came to an abrupt end when, with a lightning-fast reflex, Draco clapped him hard on the shoulder, knocking him backwards on the floor.

"I've said _scratch_, not _crotch_! Damnit, get the hell away from me!" Draco felt dizzy and angry and annoyed all at once.

Blaise froze, unable to pronounce a word, for his friend got him completely red handed and off-guard. He frowned and closed his eyes shut, cursing himself under his breath, wanting to drop dead right then.

The blond didn't bother to look back at his friend as he wrapped the cloak around his naked body and got up, walking towards the pile of his dry clothes on the corner of the room with unsteady and unsure steps. As the dark colour spots were starting to disappear from the edges of his field's vision, Draco looked at the blasted door and fixed it with a quick flick of his wand.

Making sure Blaise wasn't staring at him this time, Draco got dressed while he checked his friend out of the corner of the eye. He felt a humming sound starting to fade from inside his head as his vision improved by the minute and the rest of his senses regained its accuracy and sharpness. He then looked at his injury on the reflection of a bevelled crystal window panel, noticing that it had almost closed by itself, leaving no traces of it, just some dried blood. He turned round and aimed his wand towards Blaise, staring at him with a piercing dark look.

"Draco, I tried my best to wrap your naked bones with my dried cloak. I freaked out when I saw you all soaked in blood, for a moment I thought I was losing my mind…I just wanted to wake you up!" Blaise started to explain as he lifted painfully his eyes and stared at the blond.

For endless seconds, they watched each other. Draco's annoyance couldn't have been more plain. With a flawless natural grace, he flicked the wand and cast a silent Hot-Air Charm, drying instantly Blaise's soaked in clothes.

"Thanks mate, but please don't avoid me and just say something." Blaise said, trying to ease the uneasiness in his throat.

"You were trying to _wake me up_? Blaise, when will you stop taking advantage of a situation?!" Draco shouted, shaking his head twice as he tried to clear it.

"Never?" He swallowed hard and continued. "I just thought that by stimulating your body, you will regain conscious, okay? You were bleeding badly and the cut was a deep one! The last time you fainted I thought you were not going to wake up again. How could you possibly heal yourself so damn fast?" He mumbled, mostly to himself, trying to sort things out inside his head.

Draco managed a tired smirk and rolled his eyes. "Don't change the subject, but just for your information this _light-weight bony git_ is tougher than you think." He could felt a rush of anger pumping through his veins. "Blaise, if I hadn't stopped you…."

"I'd have kissed you down there and you'd have woken up with a smile on your face." Blaise lifted slowly from the floor and stood still, looking at Draco with narrowed eyes. "I bet that frigid wife of yours had never done that to you, right?"

Draco shook his head sharply and grabbed Blaise by the shirt's collar, crushing his friend's back against the wall with a brutal force as he pressed his hands around his friend's throat. "HOW DARE YOU?! Wash your filthy mouth before speaking about Luna, she's a Malfoy!"

The blonde's red tainted blood-shot eyes shined with fury and anger, but right when he realised that his victim was starting to choke badly, he released Blaise immediately, dropping him hard on the floor.

"I just want to crush your skull with my bare hands for what you were about to do to me, but I still owe you my life. You've ruined somebody's plan to kill me by doing what you do best: showing up whenever I least expect. Otherwise I would have drowned, I guess…" Draco shrugged, shocked at his own conclusion.

"Mate, I know I'm asking too much but if you do owe me, say that you forgive me and that I'm still your best friend…and we're even." Blaise's heart was pounding again and he could feel his exhausted body trying to process another rush of adrenaline.

Draco arched an eyebrow and just when Blaise met his gaze, expecting the worse, he saw something completely unexpected mirrored there: the blond was holding up his hand towards him without displaying any emotion at all waiting for Blaise to shake it, which he did immediately. But right then when he squeezed his friend's hand a silvery ray of light erupted from Draco's grip, knocking Blaise violently against the wall.

Blaise, gathering strength to pick himself from the floor, looked up at Draco in the eyes. He knew he deserved that Shocking Grasp Spell and said. "So…I still got the chance to be the godfather of your kids now that we're back friends, right?"

"What kids?!" The blond frowned.

Rolling his eyes, Blaise shot back with an amusing smile. "Well, haven't you ever thought about having babies with your role-model wife?"

Draco shook violently his head and shot a dark stare at his friend. "Raising a family is the last thing in my mind. That's what contraception spells are meant for Blaise."

"Oh, right, you left nothing up to fate." Blaise tilted his head to a side.

"No if I can do something about it!" Draco got tense and frowned as he looked around him, noticing that the cold breeze was starting to fade slowly. "Next time you dare to touch me or trash Luna's good name, I'll kill you."

"Die young and you'll leave a beautiful corpse…or whatever is the saying." Blaise replied as he looked at the blond. He then shook his head, his mind was thinking fast. "Draco, do you think the Grey Lady was behind all this?"

"Too obvious, nevertheless I won't rule her out." Draco shot back as he stretched his sore back.

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**A/N**

Detineo (Latin): Stop.

Creo (Latin): Create.

Vox (Latin): Voice.

Pergo (Latin): Continue / Proceed.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N #1:

Nobody lives happily ever after, that's why I decided to make this sequel. I wanted this story not to be a perfect fairy-tale but I'm having second thoughts about making it a messed-up real-life marriage relationship…I guess will be something in between….

It was weird, but in the good way, when I started receiving emails from people who told me they kinda liked this fic but felt …well…shy?/embarrassed?/out of line? to post their reviews. No-one is going to hunt you down for speaking your mind! I do speak my mind and say whatever I want and I'm still alive and kicking….can't really tell for how much longer…. LOL

Come on people! I'm looking forward to hear from you, about your thoughts and your comments are more than welcomed here, so give it a try, even if you're new to FF, no need to sign up, just owl me a line or two.

To a special someone who decided to remain anonymous (for now) and email me a most heart-breaking poem I say:

THANK YOU…WOW!!

Yes, you were right, the title of this fic was inspired in a song from Depeche Mode and, like in every chapter I write, a song empowers the message within it. That very particular tune will be the one that would trigger the events of the last chapter…Yes, I've chosen that band to start and end this fic with, you've read my mind (and seems that you're picking up every single bit of blended personal-life/fic-writing with a shocking accuracy, how on earth do you do that?!).

Right again, I'm just a (messed-up) lonely girl. I've replied your email (are you surprised?) Thought I was just going to blush and giggle hysterically (well, I did…at first!) but how was I supposed to keep my mouth shut after the bomb you've dropped on me?! In case you haven't received my email and you're reading this (of course you are)… let me know your a/s/l….asap!!….LMAO!

To those brave ones who left their reviews, I say:

THANK YOU, LOVE YOUR ATTITUDE, KEEP POSTING REVIEWS!

To you, shy-quiet-silent ones, who make the stats of this fic increase day by day, I say:

THANK YOU, KEEP READING, CHAPTER 10 IS BELOW!

#Once the truth is revealed, events will snowball beyond your control.#

Divinne

CHAPTER X

**CHAPTER X**

"_Every time we lie awake after every hit we take  
Every feeling that I get but I haven't missed you yet.  
_

_Every roommate kept awake by every silent scream we make  
All the feelings that I get but I still don't miss you yet._

_Only when I stop to think about it…I hate everything about you!_

_Why do I love you?"_

_(THREE DAYS GRACE – "(I Hate) Everything About You")_

Luna was laying in one of the beds of a darkened Ravenclaw's girl's room, fully of breathings, snorts and occasional moans. She awoke with a start, her heart was racing and her face was covered with sweat. The poor girl looked confused, after placing a hand over her chest she could literally feel her heart running a race inside. She had been dreaming, she felt her chest rising and falling dramatically. Her pearl grey eyes were slowly adjusting to the darkness. She turned, throwing a quick glance at the sleeping classmates: no-one realized what had just happened to her. After blinking few times, fully awake and conscious, she flopped back down onto her pillow. That had been awfully embarrassing: she had just had an orgasm while sleeping, and a lousy one.

She tried to slip out of bed but the covers were an entangled mess. Glancing at the window, she found that there was hardly anything visible through the frosted glass. The floating evening mist seemed to cover completely the window frames. She then slowly rolled out of her bed, kicking the covers to the floor as she made her way to the bathroom, closing shut the door behind her.

After a quick shower, she got back to bed and kept staring at the wall for a long time, trying her best not to close her eyes. She was afraid of getting back to sleep, afraid at what else could happen to her once she was again sound asleep. Luna ran both hands over her head, pushing her damp curls back away from her pale face. She was thinking about Draco and how difficult it was for her to define her feelings for him for she felt contradicting emotions whenever his image crossed her mind and found herself completely unsure of what to make of it all.

Everybody was still asleep and the silence of the room was starting to get so loud that Luna could actually experience her thoughts pounding inside her head following the rhythm of her heartbeats. She then shoved one arm under the pillow and rolled over the bed for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last couple of minutes, trying to find the most uneasy position in order to stay awake.

After a long while, Luna realized she'd fallen asleep at some point for her classmates were starting to get ready for breakfast. Not yet changed, she sat on the bed, trying to make sense of what happened to her during the evening. She then slipped into her uniform and shoes and sighed softly as she stared into the mirror. She grabbed a brush and started combing her dirty blond long hair while holding a pair of butterfly shaped hairclips on her mouth, she then used them to restrain those messy curls of her fringe and left the dorm, thinking of Draco.

The blond Slytherin caught sight of her coming from the other end of the corridor, both met half way to the Great Hall. He almost swallowed her up with his lusting amethyst blue eyes. Luna lifted her head up and caught in full his burning stare.

She sucked in a furious, embarrassed breath while turning bright red-hot. "Draco, how could you?!

"Muffliato!" He said,concealing an irresistible burst of silent laughter.

He then pocketed his wand and glanced flirtatiously at Luna, with one of his sharp shoulder blades pressed against the wall.

"Luna, was it as good for you as it was for me? I've waited for you last night…_" _His voice was soft and breathy.

She opened her mouth and blushed even more. "You were expecting me to come to you after what you've done?!"

"Of course I always wait for the lady to _come_, I'm a gentleman." His expression was hot and suggestive and determined.

"You're…" She began, but her voice was strangely breathless, hardly audible.

Using that low, melodic voice that never failed to give her shivers, he whispered. "I'm really turned on, and very pissed off with your being so dramatic about everything, but mostly turned on….yeah."

Luna blinked several times as her brain froze, she couldn't formulate any adequate response. She then turned to stare at the students around them, catching some staring back at her, visible wondering what was she doing standing so close to Draco. The looks blended surprise, anger, wonder and…jealousy but the Slytherin seemed completely unaware of his surrounding and continued to fix that horny and intense gaze at her.

The curve of her lips was a wicked temptation to him. "Since we both couldn't sleep, at least we could have used that time awake in a more productive way than just staring blankly at the ceiling, don't you think Luna?"

"Radix malorum est cupiditas (i)" Her eyes sank shut on a long sigh.

"Scio (ii)" Draco then felt a killing headache splitting his head as a humming sound of entangled words with a reverb effect, as if delivering other words, started to fill his skull. What was Luna doing to him?

He shook his head, getting himself free of the connection and grabbed her wrist drawing her to him without the slightest courtesy. Luna was visible startled, she got herself free of the tight grip and straightened her hair with that trembling hand, looking away but her face blushed madly all over again, this time with fear.

"You'd probably managed to control my body but you were far from reaching my heart". She snapped out all of a sudden, her expression was tragic.

He leaned forward and stopped a couple of inches from her face while whispering through his anger. "You're lying. The moment I find out that you don't love me anymore, I'll make sure that very same day your heart stops beating as well."

"Draco, you truly believe you're the one who decides who lives and who dies at will, don't you?" She rubbed her soggy and watery pearl grey eyes as she passed by, leaving him completely speechless.

He tried to shake his head in denial of Luna's words, but he couldn't move. After a couple of minutes of staring at the nothingness he turned the opposite way and found himself a couple of inches from…Blaise's face.

"Blaise, what the hell is wrong with you, besides the obvious?" There was a tint of annoyance and surprise in Draco's voice and on his pale complexion.

"You're still pissed off because I didn't let you sleep last night?" Blaise narrowed his eyes, tapping with his index finger Draco's forehead.

His jaw clenched suddenly and Draco realized he had just stifled a yawn, he felt extremely tired as if his body shut down without his even knowing.

"Among other things…yes! Thanks to you I'll never play chess again in my life. I've simply got fed up of beating you at that stupid game the whole damn night!" The blond replied, waving both hands on the air with restrained frustration.

"You thought that after such bloody concussion I would let you fall asleep so that you fell straight into a coma and never wake up? It's your fault for not wanting to go to the infirmary for a check-up. I'm sorry mate but I've got to make sure you wouldn't relapse and kept your brain functions sharp at the same time. That's why I've asked you to play chess with me!" Blaise spoke sharply with the clear intention to startle the sleepy blond.

"I've already know all that. Who do you think you're talking to?!" There was an edge of real hostility in the blonde's voice.

"I didn't sleep either for that matter and I even let you win in most of the rounds! So I guess I'm the stupid one for caring." He looked up and held a sad smile from curling his lips.

"Merlin, protect me from my friends for I can take care of my enemies." Draco looked away for a moment, then turned back to his friend and fixed his sceptic amethyst blue eyes on him.

"What are you talking about?" Blaise opened wide his eyes, feeling suddenly awkward.

"Stop being so manipulative, will you? I've got enough with Luna's childish behaviour already!" There was more than a hint of accusation in Draco's words and tone.

"Talking about her, bloody hard landing, uhm?" But the jet black haired young man wasn't talking about Draco's fall to the pool. He looked like he knew exactly why Luna confronted the blond moments ago, as if he heard the conversation.

Draco narrowed his eyes and threw a dark look at his friend.

"You're not the only one who knows how to read lips mate." Blaise replied with a mocking smile.

A sudden exhaustion got the better of Draco and he rolled his eyes and managed to give a tired scolding look at Blaise.

"Who would have thought that a mirroring charm would actually work when the other person is not in the room?" Blaise opened his eyes wide, looking really shocked at the blond

"Think Blaise: her blood runs through my veins, she's always present in me as I am in her. This made our bond stronger and yet more tolerable when we're physically apart. That's why she took off: she thinks she can get rid of this connection now that she owns part of me. But there is no cure for this kind of _infection_, and if she ran away as part of a _quarantine _process, it's just pointless." Draco suppressed a yawn and blinked heavily, obviously fighting sleep.

"So you two still need each other, no matter what?" Blaise crossed his arms and rested his curious eyes on the blond.

"Look." He brushed nervously his fringe, pulling those silk blond blocks away from his tired eyes, exposing his unmarked forehead to Blaise, with no sign at all of the previous night fatal wound. "Leaving aside the fact that due of the Inferiare Pandemonium's Pact I can heal faster, so would Luna in case she got hurt, our connection overpowers it."

"You're saying that what you two share is more powerful than Dark Magic?" Blaise looked confused.

Draco shook his head and frowned. "No, nothing is more powerful than Dark Magic."

"Then you're implying that your _bio-energy_ connection is part of some kind of Dark Magic?" Blaise opened wide his eyes.

"It's possible..." There was no emotion or reaction showing on the blonde's face.

"Draco, have you ever consider the idea of putting an end to this and be free of her? Has this possibility ever crossed your mind?!" Blaise's face was burning, he was chocking with his frustration.

Draco took a deep breath, trying to gather himself back together. "Yes."

"But why didn't you do something about it?" He shot back.

He looked at Blaise, smirking. "I did."

"Right, you've chose to sink even deeper by keeping her alive!" Blaise concluded and lifted his gaze. There was a visible burning frustration blended with contained annoyance sparkling in those black eyes. "So…last night you two happened to share a moment together?"

"Well, she felt the same way I did when I was _centering_ myself during that relaxation session Slughorn recommended me." Draco confessed to his friend, feeling awkwardly embarrassed.

"Draco, you were flogging the dolphin!" He shot him a nasty look.

"Like I've said before, I was _centering_ myself: trying to feel balanced and focused emotionally…." Draco started explaining.

But Blaise turned away sharply, almost cutting off Draco's explanation.

"Who do you think you're fooling here? Just tell me I'm right, will you?" He asked, reasonably.

Draco wanted to argue the point, but he knew it was useless. After all, his friend was right.

"Oh, all right! I was just letting off a little steam!" Draco frowned in obvious annoyance.

"I know the feeling, but it just makes things worse." Blaise confessed as he tried to look something else besides Draco's gorgeous face as he said to himself. _"Everytime I touch myself I can't stop thinking about you." _

Blaise was nearly suffocating himself trying to hold in the sudden rush of erasing every single bit of Luna's existence from his friend's life as he pushed Draco towards the Great Hall.

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"Merlin, my eyes!" Draco said the moment he entered, narrowing his eyes with a sick and disgusted frown.

The enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall depicted heart shaped clouds in an annoying pink, vivid fuchsia and bright red colour, there were also thousands of gilt golden and silver garlands covering almost every inch of the Hall in the shape of funny cherubs kissing plus a bunch of other cheesy assorted decorations.

"It's Valentine's Day mate, deal with it!" Blaise said throwing a mocking face at what Hogwarts had prepared to honour that special day.

The blond swallowed painfully, feeling his stomach revolting. Blaise's perfect smile vanished all of a sudden when he saw a group of 6th year Hufflepuff girls approaching him holding a bunch of Valentine's letters addressed to him.

"Fucking hell!?" Now it was time for Blaise to get desperate all of the sudden. He tried to lower his voice and threw a shocked face at Draco.

"_Suck_ that up Blaise, you'd probably _enjoy_ it…" Draco shot back with a revenge smirk before heading to the Slytherin's table.

The moment Draco took sit he glanced at the Ravenclaw's table, looking for Luna's whereabouts and found her sitting on the very corner, clutching her arms around her body, rocking to and fro, looking very uneasy. A sense of revenge haunted Draco's chest for he knew that Luna was paying the consequences of her stubbornness, sooner she'd realize that she committed a terrible mistake by coming to Hogwarts.

He rested his elbows on the table and inspected the food displayed around him, everything had the shape of a heart: the pancakes, the cookies, marmalade and honey recipients, even the fruit was cut into small hearts!

With a loud crack Blaise apparated just besides Draco with a very dark mood. His face was just transfixed with anger. Draco was about to say something when he felt a strange frenzy movement above him, he snapped his head up, staring at the enchanted ceiling and saw a growing number of owls circling over him. He leaned back and held his wand high while muttering some words. He then pocketed it and leaned forward, resting his elbows again over the table, looking at that strange spectacle.

"You could have expanded the spell to cover both of us from owl droppings!" Blaise frowned, removing a thick white substance from his shoulder with a quick cleansing spell.

Draco shrugged and poured some fruit juice on his glass before checking up on Luna once more when the owls started to deliver their mail to him, all Valentine's gifts for the blond Slytherin hero. He arched an eyebrow while balancing his wand with two fingers, looking at the growing number of boxes and letters he was amassing. Blaise turned to look at his friend with a sick pale face.

"Don't say a word, the three terrible karmas came back to haunt me." Draco said with clenched teeth.

One pearl white owl landed near Blaise holding a fierce red envelope which content was way too much furious than the colour of the wrapping: it was a Howler from his mother. The black jet haired young man picked it up reluctantly and opened it, unleashing its boiled content. He could felt his face turning hot with embarrassment but then it went all cold from shock. His mother was deeply upset because of his overnight decision to sneak out and return to Hogwarts but mostly for receiving a notification of improper conduct from McGonagall after the incident at the girl's bathroom. To make things even worse for Blaise, her last two lines actually congratulated him for the reason of his detention: snogging a girl.

"She's in denial and this just fuelled up her stupid hopes. She just won't stop pushing the subject over and over again now. I can't take this crap any longer." Blaise hissed, he had to cough to cover his nervousness.

Draco yawned and shrugged in response, rubbing his eyes tiredly while he opened some of the presents he received.

"See you later." Blaise padded Draco's shoulder and got up, walking towards the door looking visible burdened.

"Okay…" Draco paused, holding a sterling medallion shaped as a cross with two dark blue crystal cut stones on each of its right angle bent arms and one on center. "Well, this is an interesting lucky charm!"

"It's a funny crooked cross hanging from a chain to me." Crabbe said as he stuffed himself with a mouthful of pancakes, chewing them disgustingly with his mouth open.

"You fool, this is an ancient symbol: it's a Swastika. Its name is a combination of two magic words, translated they mean _well-being_ and _beneficial_, do you understand?" Draco lectured with a scowling and fierce look.

The boy nodded, feeling a bit intimidated with Draco's dark gaze and resumed eating, fixing his eyes elsewhere.

"Someone has paid attention on Arithmancy, or knows me extremely well." Draco hissed as he put it in his hand.

The medallion measured about an inch and a half in diameter, featured a detailed geometric aligned engraving pattern and the crystal cut stones reflected the colours of the rainbow in each of the cut patterned facets when reflecting the light over them, it was obviously a fine example of the goblin's handcrafted jewellery.

"What does Arithmancy has to do with your gift Malfoy?" Goyle asked this time looking rather intrigued.

"Look, it has nine stones: nine being the number of pride, any number multiplied by nine and summed up returns to itself." The blond replied, his two hands behind his neck closing the safety clasp of the chain.

"And what does the colour blue stands for?" The brunette seemed pretty interested in the subject.

"It's my second favourite colour after black. But it also happens to be a soothing sedative colour….some plants with blue flowers happen to be used for their depressant qualities, like the Valerian plant which flowers are blue. I could also stand for the dominant colour of the House the one who gave this to me belongs." Draco said, caressing the medallion that rested proudly over his chest, slowly warming in contact with his body heat.

The blond Slytherin looked up and caught sight of the pair of Ravenclaw's kids from 2nd year flashing their innocent smiles at him, happy to see that Draco liked their present and even decided to wear it. This couple of kids happened to be the only ones lucky enough to have their copy of THE QUIBBLER signed by him. Probably it was a way to thank Draco, but they must have spent all their savings buying such an expensive gift.

"Malfoy, you've got an answer for everything, don't you?" Goyle teased with a tint of envy.

"Yes because, unlike you, I happen to read…a lot." He waved a dismissive hand and frowned at the sight of a large number of funny shaped beverage bottles, perfume flasks, cookies, chocolate pastry and assorted candy…this leaving aside a huge pile of envelopes containing the infamous Valentine's cards.

"Specialis Revelio!" He then lowered his wand with a sceptical smirk.

Draco confirmed his suspicions, the gifts were mostly stuffed with Love Potions, from the most innocuous types to the very dangerous ones, he received them all. Their hidden content revealed Restraining Love Spells, Obtaining Love Spells even the Retaining Love Spells!

He played with the wand a bit between his fingers before aiming at the corrupted lot with a fierce piercing look.

"Reducto! Deprimo! Confringo! Expulso! Evanesco!"

The beverage bottles exploded, the candy, chocolate, pastry and cookies got destroyed in thousands of crumbs, and the perfume flasks blasted in the air then the whole mess disappeared from Draco's and the rest of the Slytherins sited next to him from their view.

Crabbe looked up, incredulous at a surviving gift basket of muffins. "Aren't you going to eat those?"

Draco's cold amethyst blue eyes dropped to his half empty juice and sipped it in one swallow. He then set the glass down and tilted his head to the side. "Are you sure you want them Crabbe?"

"Why not?" The fat boy shrugged.

Draco inhaled deeply, muttering something under his breath. "Go ahead, you look like you need to purge your system for excess baggage anyway."

"Malfoy, what are those muffins made of?" Goyle asked quietly.

"Those muffins were probably from some stupid Gryffindor who thought could trick me." He smirked to himself while opening one of the letters he received. "They contain about 90 per cent of Betel Nut, it causes diarrhoea."

Crabbe paused with a muffin half way to his mouth as Goyle bursted out laughing.

Draco's pale complexion became a sick shade of green once he finished reading the letter's content. He shook his head violently and proceeded to open another one, and another, and another, until he finished reading the very last one. To his shock the content of the letters was pretty much the same: all marriage proposals from the wealthiest pure blood families of the female student body attending at Hogwarts. One of the letters certainly affect him more than the rest because he happened to know this girl, he'd spent some time with her during those High Society Events held at Malfoy's Mason some time ago, and she happened to be the first girl he kissed.

"Damnit!" The blond almost chocked the word out.

He lifted his enraged amethyst blue eyes and fixed his stare at Daphne Greengrass, a girl from his same year and House while shaking the letter on the air. She was certainly the most beautiful girl in Slytherin, still Draco never found her that interesting for she had no personality at all.

"Greengrass, come here!" He called out, his temper and self control was slipping by the minute.

"Hi Draco, did you like my Valentine's Card?" Her soft pink cheeks blushed when she caught sight of him staring back at her.

"Your card happened to arrive with a letter from your family. Tell your parents that I'm not interested and that they shouldn't treat you like a bargaining chip." He shot back, getting up from his seat walking towards her. He ripped the paper with his bare hands before handling it in her delicate hands.

She stood there and nodded in silence, pressing the torn letter against her bosom. "Both our families are the wealthiest of the Wizardry World: the agreement seemed fair enough in order to perpetuate our pure blood line and legacy."

He looked at her exchanging an understanding smirk before lowering his gaze to where the pile of letters lied moments ago, his hand clenching the wand that cast a most definitely handy vanishing spell.

"Daphne, just take look at both our disastrous family relationships and tell me if you would like to live a lie and pretend you're happy just to keep appearances?" He couldn't stop thinking about his mother and how miserable she always looked besides Lucius.

"Unlike my mother and father, who literally avoid each other, I happen to like you a lot Draco. I wouldn't have to fake my feelings for you. Am I not pretty enough for you to accept me?" She swallowed her nervousness without removing her gorgeous blue eyes from him.

Draco's blood started to heat his pale face, he just wanted to scream his heart out and tell the whole world that he was already bond with the only girl he ever cared for in his live. He hated the fact of keeping his marriage with Luna in secret, as something it never happened, as a mistake, because his wife was the only thing pure and true he had left.

The blond addressed her with genuine gentleman's respect and replied quietly. "Yes, you're a very pretty girl but still I'd have to pretend that I care for you and that's not acceptable to me, certainly not fair to you, don't you think?"

She hesitated for a moment easing a growing lump inside her throat. "Draco, I would do my best to make you happy."

"I know you would." He then shook his head and added with a dark stare. "And I would certainly do my best to make your life a living hell because I don't feel a thing for you, not now, not ever."

She sobbed, trying to fight the tears from falling down her soft pink cheeks. "Probably we're not old enough to take that step now, but with time you'll see this is not as bad as it sounds. I know I'd rather marry you than spend my life with some stranger my parents pick up as husband."

He fixed his amethyst blue eyes on her and noticed that she was trembling and looked like she was about to cry. He then placed one hand on her shoulder for a brief moment and shook her violently to come back to her senses.

"No, Daphne, no! That's exactly why I'm not interested in you. You'd better start thinking for yourself and stop being your parent's marionette!" He shot back and took a sit while loosing a bit the knot of his tie for he was suffocating all of a sudden.

Draco was not in the mood to eat at all and watched Daphne returning to her sit with a devastated look stamped all over her face, he then stared at his untouched breakfast noticing that he hadn't eat properly since Luna left. He didn't really mind what he had been currently living off since then as he watched the rest of his classmates eating in silence. He stabbed a heart-shaped pancake with a fork and waved the utensil in the air, he was also hungry, but for Luna, not food.

Once again the Slytherin looked up at the Ravenclaw's table, searching for his wife as he caught sight of her just when Noir delivered his Valentine's present: something Draco ordered specially for the occasion. The dirty blond haired girl looked like she just about had enough of everything once she opened the box and scanned its content. She extracted first a small card written in a glossy dark green ink with Draco's impeccable handwriting:

"_More and more frequently the edges of me dissolve and I become a wish to assimilate the world, including you, if possible through the skin like a cool plant's tricks with oxygen and live by a harmless green burning. I would not consume you or ever finish, you would still be there surrounding me, complete as the air. Unfortunately I don't have leaves. Instead I have eyes and teeth and other non-green things which rule out osmosis. So be careful, I mean it, I give you fair warning: This kind of hunger draws everything into its own space; nor can we talk it all over, have a calm rational discussion. There is no reason for this, only a starved dog's logic about bones."_

Luna held in her trembling hand an embossed gold bangle shaped as a group of entwine thorns, one of the sharp needle edges already cut her fingertip. She then threw a questioning stare at Draco as she felt her heart sink even deeper inside while pressing her bleeding finger against a handkerchief.

Draco's cold amethyst blue eyes looked at her without blinking for what seemed an endless moment. He then threw the fork on the table with the stabbed untouched pancake and got up from the table, leaving the Great Hall without looking back.

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A/N #2:

(i) Radix malorum est cupiditas (Latin): The root of evils is desire.

(ii) Scio (Latin): I know.

The content of Draco's Valentine Card to Luna is actually the complete poem written by **Margaret Atwood** titled** "More and More"**.


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER XI

**CHAPTER XI**

"_Hey…What did you hear me say? You know the difference it makes.  
What did you hear me say? Yes, I said it's fine before  
But I don't think so no more, I said it's fine before._

_I've changed my mind, I take it back  
Erase and rewind 'Cause I've been changing my mind_

_So...Where did you see me go? It's not the right way, you know.  
Where did you see me go?  
No...It's not the light, oh no. I just don't want it to grow."_

_(THE CARDIGANS – "Erase & Rewind")_

Luna received two gifts for Valentine's Day: the first one was a large chocolate's box from Neville which she found quite irresistible. Once poking at the box, she found that she'd already eat half its content, she then half-shrugged knowing that she would probably suffer from a nasty stomach-ache after eating so much chocolate in so little time. She tilted her head forward, inspecting the bangle that lied on the table a few inches from her: Draco's Valentine's gift to her. The Ravenclaw's girl noticed that one of the needle shaped thorns, the one stained with her blood, was starting to change its form and colour, turning from yellow gold into red gold. The rest of the entwine thorns started to morph as well into heart shaped ivy leaves. The dirty blond girl took the foliate shaped gold bangle and held it in her palm, inside where engraved some monogrammed letters: "L.L + D.M"

"_Which side of yours would end up winning you over Draco?_" She said to herself as she pressed it tight with one hand, feeling the coldness of the gold slowly warming in contact with her skin before she retrieved it to the box and placed it inside her schoolbag.

She then closed her smoke grey eyes and took a big breath while rubbing her stomach that was slowly starting to suffer from the chocolate overdose. Once she opened them, she noticed that some members of her House were staring right back at her with scolding looks.

"Oh sorry guys, do you want some chocolates? They're really good!" She smiled, lifting the box towards the group of boys and girls sited next to her while sucking one of her chocolate covered fingers.

Only a pair of 2nd year kids, one silk blond haired boy and a red-haired girl, who were flipping through a copy of THE QUIBBLER accepted with a shy smile. The rest of the students of her House just turned their heads away from Luna. She left the box there, knowing that they would probably empty it once she wasn't looking. Luna placed her schoolbag over her shoulder and lifted from the table, rubbing slowly her tummy for she was feeling a bit too full by then.

As she paced slowly one of the corridors, heading to the first class of the day, she felt her stomach fighting a lost battle for it suddenly surrender to the pains of the chocolate overload. Luna placed one hand over her stomach and she could literally feel her entrails kicking inside as a sudden nausea crawled up her throat: that was a bad sign. She knew she must rush to a bathroom and she'd better hurry.

Luna kneeled in front of the lavatory and crossed her arms over her stomach for it was hurting a bit too much. She hunched forward, but nothing happened, not after she waited there for about a quarter of an hour. She then stood up, rearranged her clothes and pulled the chain before coming out from the cubic noticing that no-one else was in the bathroom. She headed to the sink and washed her hands while looking herself on the mirror, noticing some dark shade under her eyes, she looked really tired for her lack of sleep.

A sudden cold breeze surrounded her, she knew that someone or something was with her making mournful, shrill noises just a few inches from where she was standing and that just immobilized Luna, she didn't move.

"_I'm okay_." Luna said to herself, but once she lifted her eyes to see herself in the mirror, something odd happened.

Luna saw that the image in the mirror was not herself but some distorted reflection of a woman twice her age, with shabby blond unbound hair, pursed thin dark blue lips and closed shut eyes; from behind the sick white skin of her neck came crawling a pitch black colour snake.

The girl hesitated. "This just can't be happening…not again."

To her horror, the reflection frowned and moved the lips, mouthing some silent words.

"Please go away." Luna said between deep sobs.

But the image on the mirror did not fade away and made a mournful noise that resembled a tormented lament.

"Who are you?" Luna asked with a faulting voice.

"I'm just bones clothed with white sick skin. I've lost my youth and been deprived of my beauty. I used to be just like you."The reflection replied with a mournful shattered voice.

Luna couldn't believe what she was hearing and seeing anymore; she felt her pounding heart coming out of her throat by then. "What happened to you?"

The reflection then leaned forward with a splintered broken movement. "I'm the result of Malfoy's discontent."

Luna shook her head as if to clear it and stared back at the mirror again as she put herself together and confront her distorted reflection. "You're Narcissa Black!?"

In reply, the image on the mirror opened her eyes, revealing empty hollow sockets staring right back her. "That's who I used to be...yes. Luna, I'm not here to save you neither to condemn you."

Luna could feel those empty hollow eyes drilling through her skull as her stomach revolted forcing her to throw up.

"What's happening to me?" Luna shook her head twice while cleaning the sickness from her mouth.

Luna's reflection then rubbed her bony hands into her empty sockets. "Draco used to be such an innocent boy, but he's all grown up now. He's a very powerful wizard who happens to be this close to lose control. He could become dangerous and unpredictable if you're not by his side for you're all he got left. You're his balance and peace of mind; he needs you as badly as you need him."

"I'm nothing but a placebo for him, whatever he's capable of, he'll end up doing it…whether if I'm with him or not. Besides, how can I possible go back to him and stop every fibre inside me from screaming to get away from him and keep running?" Luna then soaked a towel with fresh water and pressed it over her face.

Leaving the towel on the edge of the sink, she looked up again at the reflection.

"I felt the same way when I knew I was with child. As the love for my baby filled me whole it was also fuelling Lucius' maddening jealousy for he knew I loved my unborn child more than him. I wanted to run away too." This time the reverb effect behind the reflection's words came clearer into Luna's ears.

The confused girl's head was spinning strangely with a mixture of feelings swimming inside, and she didn't know how to start explaining them as she asked to herself_._ "This means that I'm pregnant? No, that's not possible!"

Luna was shocked, once she lifted up her gaze, the image on the mirror reflected her pearl grey eyes and wet face.

"Wait, don't go! Please tell me, I need to know!" She sobbed, running a finger down the mirror, recognizing the soft traces of her own facial features when she realized someone had just entered the bathroom.

"Loony, you think you're pretty, don't you?" Someone said in a cynical high-pitched tone.

Luna removed her hand of the mirror and turned back to look at who had just entered, and saw Daphne Greengrass and Millicent Bulstrode, two girls from 6th year in Slytherin, laughing as if the comment was funny.

Luna's mouth worked twice before she said: "My name is Luna."

The two girls pretended they didn't hear her and smiled at each other, then stared back at Luna who was looking very pale by then.

"She thinks that because she crossed one of two words with Draco on the hallway that made her felt special." Millicent shot back looking at Daphne.

"She's poor and crazy. Draco was probably rejecting her Valentine's Card making clear that he didn't want anything with her!" Daphne said, still laughing. Her tone of sophisticated venom shook the Ravenclaw's insides.

Luna raised her eyebrows, her pearl grey eyes widened as she felt a transparent velvet curtain surrounding her, like an invisible line cutting her off from the pair of girls. She studied them closely, and thinking about what they have just said to her, she burst out laughing.

The pair of girls looked at Luna puzzled for a couple of minutes. Then, finally understanding she was definitely mental, they decided to play along with her and stepped closer.

"I don't want any trashy girl to mess with my future husband. You'd better stay away from Draco. Did you hear me?" Daphne shot back with a menacing tone.

"Yes, I heard you clearly because unlike you, I happen to have a good ear." Luna's smile assured them that everything was fine, yet her smoke grey eyes were blurred with the ghost of tears.

"Who do you think you are Loony?" The pair of Slytherins called out.

Luna reached out for Daphne's hand and grasped it tightly in hers as she said. "Hello Daphne Greengrass. Let me shake your hand as I introduce myself…again. My name is Luna Lovegood. Forgetting a person's name when about to introduce is awkward, and when it does occur, one should apologize and ask again. If a person fails to hear the name, it is proper to inform the one to whom you are introduced and to say: '_Pardon me, but I failed to hear your name._'…where are your manners?"

The Slytherin girl looked over her shoulder at Millicent before focusing her eyes on Luna and replied. "Normal people don't talk like that, you're definitely crazy and how dare you touch my hand?"

"You've just proved that money doesn't buy politeness. And I must be _loony_ for wanting to teach manners to a spoiled girl like you!" Luna narrowed her smoke grey eyes as she placed her hands around her hips and added. "One more thing, for the record: Draco Malfoy is mine and I simply refuse to share him with anyone. You touch him…you die."

Daphne, slightly disturbed by all that, pushed Luna's fragile body towards the sink. A spasm of pain crossed the dirty blonde's face as she rubbed her tummy with both hands for she hit hard the edge of the sink with her stomach.

A shade of pink appeared right before Luna's eyes as she began to speak, her voice monotone and hollow. "You shouldn't have done that."

"Oh, really? What are you going to do _Loony_?" Both girls asked in unison.

Right then all the crystal mirrors of the bathroom blasted into a million of splinters around the three girls, strangely without damaging any of them. The two Slytherin girls contemplated the scene with shocked eyes as Luna, taking off her wand from behind her ear, pointed it straight at them with a cold smirk, Malfoy's style.

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Two Gryffindor boys from 6th year were chatting while stepping out from the Great Hall. The one on the right was slightly taller and a lot chubbier than the one of the left who had a healthy, athletic and well toned muscle structure and amazing emerald green eyes.

Following some strange and nervous impulse, Neville turned and looked up at Harry. 'Please ask her out, you're my only chance!'

"I will as soon as I have the chance to come across her." Harry replied, pocketing his hands on his cloak as he lowered his head with frustration.

Neville looked up from Harry's shoulder and caught sight of Luna coming out from the bathroom.

"Look, she's right there, just go…now!" Neville said, pushing his friend forcibly towards where Luna was standing.

"Okay, okay! Will you please chill out?" He looked at his friend, narrowing those emerald green eyes of him and sighed soundly before he turned away and rushed to meet Luna.

As Luna closed the bathroom's door behind her, she saw a young man hurrying through the empty corridor, waving at her. She looked at him for a moment and froze, as if taken by surprise.

"Hi Luna, how are you?" Harry spoke with an anxious tone.

She took a moment to answer, a moment trying to stop her heart from racing any longer.

"I'm so…_glad _to see you Harry." She replied, looking down, swallowing her nervousness.

His emerald green eyes fell on her filled hands and he suddenly realized that the brown objects Luna was holding were a pair of small, brown and furry animals.

"Don't tell me you received those rats as Valentine's gifts! Who in his right mind would do such thing?" He frowned, visible disgusted at the sight of those rodents in the hands of her friend.

She turned her head away, trying to control herself…but she couldn't.

"Actually these are not rats they're Millicent and Daphne, from Slytherin." As soon as the words slipped out, Luna wished she'd never said them, but it was too late.

Luna forced her eyes closed as she said to herself. _"What was I thinking?"_

Harry looked at her, astonished for a split second but then he smiled widely at her, not believing a single word of her straightforward confession.

"What an excellent choice of names, after all they _are_ rats those two!" He celebrated with an accomplice wink.

She then opened her eyes, focusing on Harry's face as if reading his reactions, noticing that despite what he heard, he'd never relate such an atrocious action with her. Or maybe he just didn't pay enough attention to her…or maybe, just maybe he was just showing a sign of that unconditional trust he always had towards his friends. Luna considered that last option for a moment as she tried to clear her head.

"I still don't agree with the idea of petting rats." He concluded, shrugging his uneasiness.

"Well, you'll see Harry…rats respond positively with unconditional love much like you would expect from any pet and even have their pros: they won't pee on your front rug when the doorbell rings, like dogs would do." Seemed that Luna was talking mostly to distract herself, not really expecting Harry to follow or understand her.

"I think you're right about that, but why two?" He asked, scratching his chin.

"Because a single rat can become neurotic and suffer without the company of other rats, that's why they must get company." She half-whispered the reply.

Harry remained silent, his judging gaze glued at the pair of furry rodents.

"I hate rats!" Harry shook his head and tried hard not to start thinking about Peter Pettigrew.

"Oh come on, take one and feel how soft and cosy is." She said as she tried her best to smile, but couldn't quite manage to do so as she caressed softly the fur of her pets with her thumbs.

"No, it could bite me!" He refused all of a sudden, crossing his arms.

Luna gave him a look of amused disbelief, thinking that Harry couldn't be serious to consider such furry creatures to be a threat to him.

She then hesitated a moment, then frowned, remembering what happened just moments ago to her on the bathroom. "You can't blame them, it's in their nature."

Harry inhaled slowly then let it out with what sounded like a whisper. "Are you planning to keep them?"

Luna studied Harry's discomfort for a moment as if reading Harry's thoughts before replying. But right then a strange feeling struck of her like a blow, leaving her completely unprepared to fight back.

"Don't you worry Harry, rats die very quickly due to their size and the few symptoms they show when they're ill." She replied; her voice was strangely cold without the slightest trace of emotion.

He put his hands over Luna's shoulders and sighed. "That's a comforting thought."

"Is it?" She said in an oddly tense way as she blinked hard to get rid of what too possession of her seconds ago.

"I was almost forgetting why I wanted to speak with you!" Harry scratched his forehead, getting rid of any memory or thought regarding rats and traitors.

Luna tilted her head to the side and looked at Harry with a puzzled look.

"Slughorn invited me, along with some other of his favourite students, to celebrate Valentine's Day and told us to bring a date. Luna would you like to come with me to the party?" He held his breath, waiting for her answer.

Startled, Luna looked up. "Harry, you're asking me to go with you as your date? But, what about Ginny?"

He snapped his head and cursed himself in silence. "Sorry Luna, not as a _date_ but as my_ friend_…for you're my friend…right!"

She let go a heavy sigh and looked up at him, feeling way better.

"Sorry Luna, I didn't mean to confuse you! The thing is that Ginny and I got invited and we thought it was a perfect opportunity to bring some friends with us. She's going to bring Neville to the party. This is going to be great, so we can get together like we used to. What do you say, you're in?" He bit his lip, and crossed his fingers behind his back, waiting for Luna's reply.

"I'm sorry Harry, I can't." She replied with a thread of voice thinking what Draco would be capable of doing is he find out she spent Valentine's Day close to Neville and her friends, she was afraid of their safety.

"It will not be the same without you. Come on, it'll be fun…it's just a party among friends…pretty please?" He begged.

She shook her hear and let go a silent sigh. "Oh Harry…"

"Done, I'll pick you up tonight at ten!" He winked at her and rushed straight to his class, for he was already late.

"But…" Luna opened wide her eyes as a crawling sense of fear haunted her, she clearly rejected his invitation and still he didn't accept her refusal.

"Miss Lovegood." A voice called out and at the sound of her name, Luna turned abruptly, gasping with fear once she caught sight of the all black dressed tall figure of Severus Snape coming from the other end of the deserted corridor.

"You'd be in your classroom by now. Why are you still wondering in the hall?" He asked, pocketing a small pocket clock inside his robes.

"I'm sorry professor. I wasn't feeling well earlier so I stopped to refresh myself in the bathroom before heading to my class." She replied, speaking rapidly.

"You're intending to bring your _pets_ along with you Miss Lovegood?" He narrowed his pitch black eyes and watched her closely, remaining curiously impassive towards her visible uneasiness.

She swallowed hard ad her pale complexion turned even whiter if that was possible. She then started to mumble some words altogether with a thread of voice.

He looked at her with exasperation. "Speak up!"

"They are not my pets professor." Along Luna's words came a rush of tears.

Snape looked behind his back, making sure that nobody else was nearby and leaned closer to Luna.

"Of course they're not, what have you done?!" He arched an eyebrow.

"I…didn't mean to do that, I don't know why…or how it happened…I just feel so bad for causing all this…." She started to apologize as her words kept coming faster and faster.

"You know that it's against the rules to transfigure students!" He shot back with an accusing tone while arching one eyebrow.

Luna began to sob, breathing in between them and as her chocked out sound went on and on, echoing on the corridor's walls. Snape knew he had to do something or she would literally snap out right there with a panic attack.

"Enough, control yourself!" He ordered with a whip lash voice as he ripped the pair of furry little animals from her hands.

Luna was stunned into silence.

"Now I've got to take care of this mess! This week, during your free time periods, you'll serve detention in the dungeons, indexing and cleaning the potions storage room. Professor Slughorn made a mess of it since he's in the post. So, Miss Lovegood, no more excuses, no more tardiness, no more troubles from you. Do you understand what I'm saying?" He said lowering his eyelids while breathing out his annoyance.

Luna blinked away her confusion before answering. "Yes professor."

"I'm going to say this just once and I expect you to listen to me carefully." He frowned, with a killing look on his pitch dark eyes.

She nodded absently and looked up.

Snape sighed soundly, he looked almost absentminded. "Time and the seasons bring big changes in growing things. As time goes on, you'll both discover more and more the pain in your union as well as in your separation. But this is not a question of what you want versus what Malfoy wants, it's about finding a compromise point somewhere in between unity and separation, between your will and his and the tension between these opposites."

The girl stared at the floor for a long while, twisting the gold serpent ring around on her finger before being able to reply.

"I know it's not a question of who's right….but who's left." Luna bitterly joked, feeling a painfully headache coming on.

Snape turned his head and gazed at Luna with disbelief. "It's up to you to lead him to a safer ground, for both your sakes."

"But professor, how am I supposed to do that?" She looked at him with her heart racing almost at the edge of desperation.

He tilted his head to a side before replying, his voice was paused still there was a tint of uneasiness in it. "There's a reason why you two got connected in such an unpredictable way, you both have a double centre of gravity: on the one hand there's your individuality; on the other there's the object of your affection. Both centres are weighted with the same amount of power….that's the root of the problem. You'd better start looking for a way to level his towards you."

"_Suggestions leave too much to chance_." Luna said to herself as she closed shut her smoke grey eyes.

"Ask yourself why you were sorted in Ravenclaw in the first place. Make good use of that enlightened mind of yours!" He hurried to reassure and turn his back on her, heading towards the dungeons.

"I will, eventually..." She said, but even thinking of that possibility was too much for her to handle at the moment, especially with such a killing headache.

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	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER XII

**CHAPTER XII**

_  
"__Your worth so much  
It'll never be enough to see what you have to give  
How beautiful you are  
Yet seem so far from everything you're wanting to be._

_You fall to your knees, you beg, you plead  
Can I be somebody else for all the times I hate myself?  
Your failures devour your heart in every hour  
You're drowning in your imperfection._

_How special you are, revel in your day  
You're fearfully and wonderfully made."_

_(SKILLET – "Imperfection")_

Draco's uneasiness had escalated to an alarming level since he arrived at Hogwarts three days ago. Things were getting on his nerves and he was already on the verge to snap out…yet again. But what he hated the most was Luna's attitude, so defiant, so determined to the very end of her strength not to surrender to his wishes. He had to admit that what he once loved about her, her unique personality and determination was starting to trim down his patience.

It was a living nightmare for the Slytherin, not only did he had to attend to those boring and useless classes but also had to deal as well with the growing number of students who idolized him like the hero he was. Valentine's Day complicated things even more: the female student body was determined to stalk him, following his every move like a vast shadow. He thought that what experienced earlier that morning, the gifts and letters, was finally over, but he was so wrong!

The blond focused then his tired eyes on his desk, where a growing number of Valentine Cards continued to pop out non-stop. He had to find a way to get rid of them all using something more effective than a simple vanishing spell. He then came up with an ingenious dark magic jinx that took care of the situation in seconds: all letters were instantly returned to sender in the shape of enlarged slugs and cockroaches. _"That would do." _He thought with a winning smirk.

Draco twisted his head around until his neck popped as he made a clockwise inspection of the classroom. Most of the students were fighting sleep; others were just dozed off on their desks. _History of Magic_ was considered one of the most boring classes by the majority of the students at Hogwarts, but that morning Draco found out that professor Binns was inspired when choosing the subject in discussion: one of the crudest Goblin's Wars. He lowered his gaze and focused his amethyst blue eyes on the book in front of him as his pupils dilated when he turned the page and found that both Binns and the book skipped to dig into a most significant information about that war.

Draco held up a hand as he finished a yawn. "Professor, is it true that the Goblins where the first ones to perform the _Maschalismos_ rituals at those who killed in battle?"

The see-through eyes of the ghost opened wide, staring at the Slytherin with a questioning look, not because he didn't knew the answer, for he was an unquestionable source of knowledge, but because was trying to figure out the blonde's name inside his head. Binns' primary concern was his teachings and never bothered to remember any of his student's names, well…probably except for one.

"That's correct Mr. Malfoy, seems you're keen on the subject, aren't you?" The professor replied with his usual eerie and hollow ghost like voice.

Draco nodded but said nothing, curling his pale velvety lips with a smirk.

"Would you limit yourself to explain the meaning of the _Maschalismos_ rituals to the rest of your classmates?" The ghost asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"The _Maschalismos_ is the practice of physically rendering the dead incapable of rising or haunting the living in undead form." Draco paused as he experienced a strange and unsettling chill all over his body, it was because Binns was standing a couple of inches from him.

"Ten points to Slytherin! I'm glad to have such an intelligent young man back in my classroom." He congratulated with a casual tone heading back to the front of the classroom.

The blond shook his head, trying to get rid of the stricken cold sensation. He narrowed his amethyst blue eyes at the ghost's ethereal projection and added.

"The Goblins mutilated the bodies of their enemies during the _Maschalismos_ rituals: first they got rid of the eyes, ears, nose and genitals and burn them with sulphur. Then they proceeded to cut the extremities off from the dead bodies, fastened the pieces around them, stringing them together, as if they were thus depriving them of strength, so that they would not subsequently terrorize them. The corpses used to wear the extremities on their armpits. The Goblins called this process _being armpitted_." Draco concluded and leaned back on his sit, noticing that now the rest of his classmates were fully awake with their shocked eyes glued on him and their jaws dropped to the floor.

"I see you've got trouble to _limit_ the display of you knowledge, Mr. Malfoy." The ghost shot back looking visibly irritated. "But I do appreciate your providing a most detailed exposition of the subject and for managing to capture the attention of the rest. Class dismissed!" Binns said with a tint of resentment, he had to admit that the Slytherin found a way to make his class interesting for a change, even if it was in a very disturbing way.

Draco picked up his backpack and shoved it over his shoulder, heading slowly to the exit. But then he hesitated for a moment, as is coming to grips with what was flashing inside his head, he turned round and looked at Binns. The ghost was standing in front of his desk with arms crossed against his back, waiting patently for the last of his students to empty the classroom.

Binns looked back at Draco and noticed hesitation in the blonde's eyes. "Is there a problem?"

The Slytherin closed his eyes and sighed deeply then he looked up sharply and paced across the empty room towards his professor, stopping at a prudent distance.

"Sir, can you see beyond us, the living ones?" He shrugged.

Arching an eyebrow, the other replied. "Ghosts can see the true light inside everything. That's exactly what reminds me that I'm dead."

Draco shook his head once. "How's that possible?"

"All things, alive or dead, absorb energy and energy radiates light. What happens with the living people is that they also radiate light from an inner source of energy, in other words life itself. So you count with two different sources of energy, therefore two kinds of illuminations. It's almost impossible not to see them through my dead eyes. I guess it's an advantage of the afterlife." The ghost words were paused, almost whisper like.

"So willingly or not, you can _see_ that energy. Is that what you're saying?" Draco seemed to be ill-at-ease talking with him, but who better than a learned man who happened to be a ghost to talk about that specific subject?

"That's correct." Binns answered easily.

"And can you tell me what you _see_ in me?" Draco's face was darkening with every word.

"What do you expect me to say?" He asked incredulously at his student.

"The truth?" The blond shot back copying the ironic tone of the ghost.

He ghost swallowed and looked away for a moment before replying. "Youthful brilliance can often come with a steep emotional price."

Despite the initial awkwardness and sour taste in Draco's mouth, Binns had not yet awoken any of his mental alarms with such _revelation_.

Draco then rolled his eyes and sighed as he leaned against one desk, he was starting to feel tired because of his lack of sleep. "Is that all you can say about me, professor?"

"Everything is judged by its costs, and everything has a price. What is offered for free always comes with a psychological price tag." Binns arched both his eyebrows up with a sceptic gaze raising in Draco the latent memory of the Ghoul's infamous reward.

Without waiting for the blonde's reaction the ghost continued. "Emotions and limitations are meant to define people, but since you have too many conflicting emotions and no limitations…I don't know how to start defining your character, Mr. Malfoy."

"I thought a man of your knowledge would figure out the way to do that." The blond teased with a tint of frustration on his voice.

Binns, feeling somewhat challenged, started to explain in depth his vision. "Emotions play a critical role in the identity of the self, but what's crucial is to be able to distinguish which ones form part of us and which ones are…well…_foreign_."

"As in what we do consciously and unconsciously?" Draco asked, speaking his mind out loud.

"You can say that, yes." The ghost nodded as he took a deep breath. "In order to determine which ones to choose from, three elements must be aligned: meaning, possibility, and rationality. The problem lies when those two different types of emotions are trivially equivalent once the elements are finally aligned."

The Slytherin shook his head in disgust. "But that would be a contradiction in itself!"

"The so called _conflicting emotions_…at times accepted, at times denied, are proof that it's possible for it all depends on the reigning intention at the time of evaluating a possibility." Replied the ghost as he paced up and down the small space between his desk and the blackboard.

Startled by those words, Draco blinked several times before being able to pronounce a word. "Who would be able to develop a dormant duality within himself?"

"Someone like you." He looked up at his student and stopped on his tracks.

"And what does that make of me then?" Draco asked, crossing his arms.

"That makes you both an executioner and an arbitrator." Shot back the ghost without looking at him.

"Professor, a couple of nights ago the Gray Lady lead me to the Mirror of Erised where I confirmed what she said about me, things I hardly knew about myself…" Draco let his irritation show through in his voice.

"No, that can't be possible!" Binns hurried to reply and added. "Helena would never dare to confront a Slytherin and Dumbledore placed the Mirror of Erised in a very secure place, with countless numbers of deadly spells. Any living creature who dares to trespass those doors, would perish frozen within the minute."

"Perish frozen?" Draco's lungs gasped for air when he realized he'd forgotten to breathe.

"Exactly." His reply was short and to the point, with no inflection.

Draco's mind was thinking fast, he'd survived in there and he'd seen the Gray Lady, someone was either lying or hiding something from him, or maybe, just maybe he was having trouble realizing what he was capable of doing and how dangerous that could be for him and those close to him if he didn't control it.

"_What have I become?"_ The blond said to himself as he tried to slow down the accelerated pace of his heartbeats.

"Now, if you excuse me, I'd like to return to my chambers and catch on my reading." The ghost said breaking Draco's disturbed stream of conscious.

The blond ragged his gaze from the floor and looked at his professor, smirking vaguely, wondering how a ghost could manage to turn the pages of a book by himself. It was evidently that sometimes Binns forgot he was dead. Without saying a word the Slytherin turned round and paced across the empty room shutting the classroom doors behind him.

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Draco leaned his back against the wall shortly after coming out from History of Magic's class. He was breathing deeply as he closed his eyes but something forced him to open them: an unpleasant familiar voice was polluting his ears. He muttered something to himself as he caught sight from the corner of the eye of the golden trio standing on the opposite side of the hall, chatting eagerly with each other.

"Malfoy couldn't have revealed this quality in isolation for it's only evident in interaction with those who were affected by it, do you understand now Ron?" She said with a lecturing tone as she pocketed a copy of THE QUIBBLER inside her backpack.

"Stop saying Malfoy is charismatic!" The red-haired shot back with annoyance.

"Charisma refers to an extraordinary quality of a person, is an ability which makes one the object of intense attention and unreflective imitation by others." Hermione said this time looking straight at Harry who limited stare back at her with a questioning look.

"Tell me then why is he such an arrogant elitist bastard?!" Ron shot back.

"Because I can." Replied this time someone standing a couple of inches behind him.

Ron swallowed hard and turned, meeting a pair of cold piercing amethyst blue eyes staring right back at him.

"It's a clear sign of cowardly to talk about someone behind his back, Weasley." Draco said with a mocking smirk.

Ron didn't reply and managed to entangle some words in the air as his face got redden by the minute.

"I'd like to know what else you've to say about me now that we're face to face." He crossed his arms waiting for Ron's to reply, but just as he expected, that answer never came.

The Slytherin then addressed to Hermione as he tilted his head to the side looking curious. "I see you've got yourself another copy of the magazine."

"I had to replace the one that got…ruined." She replied with a thread of voice as he looked up to meet his hash gaze.

Draco then remembered that exact moment, two nights ago, when a strange sickness overcame him shortly after his encounter with Luna. He still couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation regarding what Luna managed to do during their connection, and that thought haunted him ever since, warming his blood up to a dangerous level.

He swallowed hard, trying to suppress his thoughts as he managed a tired smirk. "What exactly fancies you about what's written on it Granger?"

"I found what you've said in your interview very instructive." She hissed.

"Really?" He asked, truly curious this time.

"Yes. I get to know a side of you I was complete unaware of: deep down inside you've got a kind heart. You must be probably the only Slytherin who cares about others besides himself." She managed to speak through her anxiety.

Draco managed to keep a straight face while inside he was twisting with laughter, Hermione was so fatally wrong! That was the move he's been expected her to make according to his flawless strategy.

He sighed deeply and leaned closer to her. "So now that you happened to know so much about me what would happen if I wanted to dig _deep down inside_ of you to find your true self?"

His words made her cheeks flush with a vivid tint of red but once she realized her unconscious reaction, she shook her head violently and frowned. Hermione took a step back and rearranged her sweater feeling strangely uncomfortable with Draco's intimidating look.

"_Well, well, well. Just look at that…eat your heart out Weasley." _He said to himself, making fun of Hermione's uneasiness, but then swallowed hard for the scent of her aroma while being that close to her made his stomach revolt.

"Still some things would never change: you're a mudblood and I'm an arrogant elitist bastard, things won't work between us _darling_…" A mocking cold smirk curled his lips as he waved a dismissing hand on the air as if clearing the atmosphere from her stink.

The blond then shook his head and made way between Hermione and Ron as he walked towards Harry. "How long do I have to wait to fight you Potter? Got cold feet?"

The look in Draco's face was so intense it sent a chill down Harry's spine.

"We're no longer at Lockhart's Duelling Club, Malfoy." The black jet haired replied with an uneasy tone on his voice.

"You still owe me; you're in debt with me." The blond replied through clenched teeth as he looked at the other two.

"Neither you nor me are murderers."

At that, Draco turned around, focusing his soulless amethyst blue eyes on Harry.

"I mean…not willingly." Harry said blinking to bring his eyes back into focus.

"What are you afraid of, potty boy?" Draco arched an eyebrow.

He swallowed, taking a step forward towards the blond he said. "Losing a potential friend."

Draco then blinked hard, trying to decide whether Harry was leading him into some sort of well displayed trick or was just an example of Gryffindor's dumbness, he opted for the later and smirked, Harry's words made no sense at all.

"Don't flatter yourself Potter and remember who you're talking to." Draco's dark look didn't fade as he felt an oursbust of rage bubbling inside.

"I was talking about me, if you killed me." Harry looked up and found Draco deep in thought.

Sharply, Draco's head snapped up, meeting Harry eye to eye. The anger on Draco's face and the tension of his body posture was intimidating enough for Ron and Hermione to back up, but still Harry didn't seemed affected by it.

"Either way your time is almost gone, Potter." The blond paused with a cold smirk curling his lips.

Dismissing completely Draco's words, Harry shot back with a timid smile. "You've measured my words and consider my offer of friendship, at least for a fraction of second."

The blond looked as if he wanted to argue but, to everybody's surprise, he nodded reluctantly.

"It's bad enough admitting that I thought about that, but your offer came a little too late." The depth of tone in Draco's voice was something Harry hadn't heard from him ever before, was it regret, was it….sadness?

"I still believe we could turn things round, Malfoy." The Gryffindor shrugged.

Harry truly believed then that Draco was entering into a strange episode of depression and confusion, but it was in fact the essence of Malfoy's keen strategy. He was distracting Harry, deceiving him with his sudden act of false honesty for all the blond was looking for was to disarm his enemy and soften the ground for Harry to fall easier and faster into his trap.

"False hope is nicer than no hope at all." Harry smiled vaguely.

Draco frowned and shook his head, as if to clear it, there was really no point in bringing up something that couldn't be altered and with that realization came another one tinted with sarcasm.

"Potter, trying to see things from your point of view is like getting one's head far up the arse." He replied with an ironic smirk.

Harry shook his head very slowly and looked at Draco, clearing this throat before speaking. "I guess I've lost big time."

"Oh yes..." The blond sneered as he leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms.

"What I meant was that I've lost completely the chance to learn from you." Harry replied calmly.

Right at that moment Draco was considering asking Harry for a detailed explanation as to whether he meant to say whenever he opened his mouth and said one thing meaning other, but he thought it was just a waste of his breath to point that out for Harry had just fell in the trap, as expected.

"I've always experienced trouble when limiting the display of my knowledge to others, and you've managed to take fully advantage of it, haven't you?" Draco coughed partially hiding his mocking smirk for it was the perfect opportunity to pull the strings on the Gryffindor puppets once and for all.

"_Learn to give before you take. Once sincere and honest move will cover over dozens of dishonest ones."_ A voice inside Draco whispered as he paced around Harry with his hands in his pockets.

"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages." The Slytherin's captivating voice was methodically paused.

That must have been all Harry expected from Draco, because he immediately smiled, and looked at Hermione with wide eyes.

"Malfoy, there are seven Horcruxes?" She turned to face the blond this time with astonishment.

Draco's eyes were still sparkling darkness. Hermione watched him for any sign of an untruth, but even as he did she knew she'd never be able to tell if he was lying or not.

"Meaning there are four left!" Harry said making inside his mind the mental note of the three that were already gone: Tom Riddle's Diary back in his second year, Dumbledore's ring…the one he got from Marvolo, and Nagini, killed by Draco, about a month ago.

"And what about the other four, where are they?" Ron rushed to ask Draco with an incredulous face.

"Look around you and stop sitting on your arse Weasley!" The blond said without looking at him while poking with his wand at the Hogwart's crest on Hermione's backpack.

Right then, as he lifted his gaze and met hers. He smirked with a tint of malice while holding up his breath for he wasn't going to let his lungs be contaminated again by her scent. "Tell me Granger, am I underestimating you?"

Hermione's face blushed gain, this time with the same euphoric tint of red on her cheeks. She pursed her lips watching in fascination how Draco's amazing amethyst blue eyes seemed somewhat lost while staring at the school's crest, giving her a silent clue that the four remaining Horcruxes had something to do with the Four Houses. He then he pocketed his wand and turned to face Harry.

"Last scene of all, that ends this strange eventful history, is second childishness and mere oblivion; Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans every thing." Draco shot back with an intimidating fierce look.

After such calculated display, the Slytherin walked purposefully away without stopping to listen to any objections or comments any of the three might have had as he headed towards the dungeons.

"Oh no...!" Hermione chocked with her own words and threw herself over Harry, embracing him tight as she realized what was the ultimate sacrifice to get rid of all the Horcruxes; no other than Harry himself.

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**A/N****:**

All the world's a stage,  
And all the men and women merely players;  
They have their exits and their entrances;  
And one man in his time plays many parts,  
His acts being seven ages.

(…..)

Last scene of all,  
That ends this strange eventful history,  
Is second childishness and mere oblivion;  
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans every thing. (II.vii)

Shakespeare's "As You Like It" (Beginning and last part of _All the world's a stage_)


	13. Chapter 13

A/N:

Okay, I believe you've already noticed it, but the time line in this story is basically non-stop since Draco came back to Hogwarts in **Chapter 6th**.

So the arrival of Draco at Hogwarts took place on **Chapter 6th,** what happened that same night took place on **Chapter 7th.**

FIRST DAY of Draco's return: **Chapter 8th **(morning), **Chapter 9th **(afternoon and early night), the first part of **Chapter 10th** (late night).

SECOND DAY of Draco's return "Valentine's Day": continuation of **Chapter 10th** (early morning), **Chapter 11th** (late morning), **Chapter 12th **(early afternoon) and this **Chapter 13th** (late afternoon).

**_With that said, enjoy the reading & please post your reviews, they help me a lot to keep this up!_**

CHAPTER XIII

**CHAPTER XIII**

"_And it's beginning to get to me that I know more of the stars and sea  
Than I do of what's in your head barely touching in our cold bed._

_Are you beginning to get my point?  
That all this fighting with aching joints is doing nothing but tire us out  
No one knows what this fight's about._

_We need to feel breathless with love and not collapse under its weight _

_I'm gasping for the air to fill my lungs with everything I've lost__"_

_(SNOW PATROL – "It's Beginning To Get To Me")_

Luna was used to clean after the mess of her dad back at home, so she was quite an expert in that field and found no problem whatsoever with the task she was assigned for detention, but she never thought that storage room in question was so vast. Thousands of flasks and bottles of different colours and sizes laid one close to the other in the countless shelves attached to the walls. She had to admit that she found herself quite amused when realising that Snape trust her with something he considered the most precious thing in his whole life: the potion's storage room.

The dirty blond haired girl quickly lost track of time once she started cleaning and indexing what Slughorn used during his last classes. The old man seemed to be a forgetful person when storing the magic ingredients back to the original place Snape destined them to be.

Looking up at the endless staircase that lead to the upper row of shelves, she gathered some bottles and started to climb it up to the very top but when she looked down, a sudden nausea struck her, forcing the poor girl to descend quickly in the search for some empty recipient to throw up into. To her relief, the funny feeling vanished as violently as it appeared. She took a quick look at herself on the reflection of a bevelled crystal bottle: she looked as exhausted as she felt.

Luna hadn't slept much after waking up so abruptly from her wet dream in the middle of the night. She immediately blushed, thinking about how intense and strangely vivid was that tingling sensation in her body, that very same one Draco felt when he performed the mirroring charm the previous night. Her curious pearl grey eyes opened wide once they stopped by the many deadly potions and magic ingredients of questionable nature piled at a corner all covered with a thick veil of dirt and moist: sign that they haven't been touched in a very long time. With that thought in mind she let go a soundly relieving sigh.

Pointing with her wand at the couple of flasks meant to be stored at the very last shelf, the one close to the ceiling, she spoke softly. "Wingardium Leviosa."

With a winning smile she turned round to where the other bottles, tins and boxes were next in order to be stored when from the corner of her eye she caught sight of someone.

"Oh my!" She gasped placing a hand over her chest. "You scared me!"

At that remark Draco narrowed his eyes, pushing himself away from the wall as he ran his hands through his silk blond hair. "What have I told you about securing the place you're in?!"

"I didn't consider that it would be necessary, not in here anyway." She frowned.

He shook his head and waved his hands in the air unleashing the sudden rush of frustration that haunted him. "With that way of thinking I'm surprised to see you're still alive."

"Please Draco, you can't live in a constant state of paranoia." She slowly lifted her smoke grey eyes and looked at him.

"The Dark Lord is most certainly commanding an army of Death Eaters to bring down Hogwarts as we speak and you're happy taking care of house elves duties?" He kept his voice calm but the tension inside him was piling up by the minute.

Luna stayed where she was for several minutes, watching him.

"Why were you placed under detention in the first place?" He demanded to know.

As badly as she wanted to tell him what triggered her to transfigure those two Slytherin girls, she knew she couldn't be able to confide that to him, at least not then.

"I broke a couple of school rules, that's why." To both her and Draco's surprise the tone in her voice was a defiant one.

"You better tell me what happened." Draco's voice sounded hollow and determined.

"No, I won't." She swallowed hard, getting nervous.

"Have it your way." He said with a cold smirk holding tight his wand and performed the Legilimens spell on her.

As hard as Luna tried to repel it, she found that her strength was diminishing at a fast rate. Her face was flushing with a vivid reddish tint. She kept her eyes tight closed as she tried to keep her mind in blank, noticing that it was becoming impossible, she then tried to focus her mind with a memory that he would find of no use in his specific search. That memory had to be powerful and also had to dissuade Draco from ceasing his pursue at the same time.

Once Draco managed to penetrate in her mind he confronted the shattered images of the day he proposed to her back in the Requirement's Room:

_"Draco, you're doing this out of pity?" Luna asked as her voice resounded inside his ears and he saw through her eyes at his own face struck by a painful grief when he replied. "No, I'm doing this out of selfishness."_

"I've told you the truth!" He chocked, breathing through his burning angst as he took as step backwards and turned his back on her. "But you definitely know how to lie and hide things from me." He didn't want Luna to see him in that state: he was starting to feel strangely vulnerable and helpless all of a sudden.

Blinking, she pulled herself back to reality and tried to avoid Draco's face. "No, I'd never lie to you, not then, not now, not ever! The problem is that nothing is ever enough for you."

"We don't belong here!" Draco shot back glancing around. After confirming the place was empty and nobody was around, he turned back to face Luna and said. "Have some self-esteem, will you?!"

She shook her head and looked up at him with her eyes clouded with tears. "The one who's ashamed of this detention is you, not me. Besides, I feel useful and I've realized that I'm a trustworthy student to Snape, that's a lot to say, don't you think?"

"Let me remind you that despite you're not acting like one, you're still my wife. Of course Snape would trust you: you're a Malfoy." Draco's voice was a strangely calm in contrast to the angry frustration surfacing on him when he began twisting his wedding ring around his finger.

"I…" Luna stopped, looking at him with a growing know on her throat she asked. "Draco, what do you want from me?"

Draco's lips curled into a mocking smirk, but there was not a single trace of humour in his expression. "When I arrived here three days ago, I got the stupid idea that I'd change your mind about leaving me and reconsidered everything I've done for you."

She ducked her head to a side, repressing the constriction on her throat from noticing.

He walked towards her, trimming the distance between the two. He then leaned forward, his face inches away from hers. "I need…I want you to give me something to hold on to, something that tells me this is worth fighting for. I'm risking it all in order to have you back."

The pain in Luna's facial expression was obvious. She then closed her eyes and whispered softly. "I'd never want anything bad to happen to you."

Draco took a step backwards, running both his hands through his hair as he felt the rage taking over him, pushing what little was left of his calm control completely out of his reach. "Two months ago you were attacked by Dementors right here in school grounds and I almost lost you. Do you prefer facing death all over again rather then spending your live with me?"

Luna shook her head once, sharply. "I don't want to die."

"But you don't want to be with me either, why?! Is this your way to get even with me, to punish me?!" Draco shot back feeling enraged, yet in his voice there was a tone of tragic resignation.

"I'm not a vengeful person and I don't look forward to get even with you." She shrugged.

"Then why are you shutting me out?" Draco asked her, lowering the tone on his voice into a reasoning one this time.

She sighed, letting the breath out slowly as she spoke with a thread of voice. "No Draco, it's the other way round. All I'm trying to do is to show you what I'm going through."

Draco shook his head then fixed his intense amethyst blue eyes on her, not at all sure of what she meant by that. "Luna, you better explain yourself, what's going on?"

That latent question, those words that Draco finally asked took Luna completely off guard, she worked her mouth a couple of times but no sound came from it.

"Answer me!" Draco's tone darkened.

Right then Luna looked up and the two of them exchanged heated glares, as the connection between them grew stronger so did a strange swirling sensation that filled Draco's head and guts, he felt as if the room was trying to spin.

"Dammit!" Draco gasped as he leaned against the door to catch his breath and blinked through the wave of nausea until it passed.

He still couldn't seem to focus properly; nevertheless he looked up at Luna with those blurry amethyst blue eyes of him, waiting for her to say something.

"There's something wrong with me, I don't feel like myself anymore!" She sobbed, feeling helpless.

Draco's head was spinning, and his face alternating between burning red with rage and the white chill of shock. "What you're saying is _wrong_ it's actually that part of _me_ inside you that you're trying so desperately to deny. But you can't beat it, you can't defeat it for it belongs to you, it's part of you, it's part of both of us!"

"So you know…" Luna covered her face in her hands and started sobbing uncontrollably fearing Draco's reaction for her being pregnant.

"Of course I do!" He said through clenched teeth.

"I thought you were against the idea. Please tell me that you're not angry with me." Unable to hold back her pain, her soft cheeks became all wet with the trails of the endless tears that were running non-stop from her sore eyes.

"Wait...what are you talking about?!" He yelled.

"I'm…" She chocked with desperation, drying the tears with both the sleeves of her uniform's pullover.

"You're what…WHAT?!" He then tried to moisten his dry throat and regain some composure as he asked again. "Just answer me this one thing Luna, do you trust me?"

She froze, unable to pronounce the words out loud she said to herself. _"No, not with something as important as this. I know how against you're about raising a family and letting someone else step into our lives, even if it's your own baby whom we're talking about." _

"Damnit Luna! Have faith in me, have faith in both of us and stop hiding things from me. If you want my help to get through this together then you've got to give me a bloody chance!" The tone of his voice was cracking with building frustration and pain.

But when she lifted her eyes, she noticed that Draco had disappeared from her sight and standing in his very same place was Slughorn looking back at her with a puzzled look stamped on his puffy face.

Coughing quietly he asked. "Miss Lovegood, is everything okay?"

"Yes professor." She sighed deeply, closing her eyes.

"Looks like you've been crying." He frowned.

She swallowed, trying to regain some composure and slowly opened her puffy eyes. "It must be the dust in the air that made my eyes sore Sir".

"Yes, this place was a complete mess." The old man paused, suddenly marvelled with the renewed view of the storage room, everything seemed almost spotless.

"You've done an incredible job cleaning it up and settling things back in place. I believe I've spent more time messing it up than you putting it back together! I truly appreciate your help Miss Lovegood" He smiled at her.

"I've just started today Sir, I'm under detention the whole week, it will grant me time enough to leave this place the way professor Snape wants." Luna replied with a tired smile.

"I never saw it more tidy and clean. Your work is definitely done here: your detention time is over. Besides, tonight we're celebrating Valentine's Day. I bet your date would like you to look fresh and rested." He said, giving her an accomplice wink.

Luna shook her head and looked up at Slughorn with her tired eyes. "But Sir…"

"If professor Snape asks, you tell him that I've said so and if he has a problem with my decision he'd better speak it up in my face, okay?" He soothed her.

She nodded in silence and paused at the door. "Thank you professor".

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A pair of foggy amethyst blue eyes followed the tiny figure of Luna coming from outside the Potion's classroom. The tall slender silhouette didn't move from where it was standing, partially hidden behind a stone Gargoyle.

Draco's sculpted jaw tensed a bit: he looked as serious as ever, and as dark. He stretched his back against the statue and shook violently his head, trying in vain to ease the drumming thoughts that were starting to resound inside his skull. Pulling himself from the cold stone statue, he slowly headed towards Slughorn's office, walking with that natural grace of him as his figure cut the air around him in magnificent waves.

"Mr Malfoy, would you mind joining me for a cup of tea?" Slughorn greeted from behind the desk, as he invited Draco to take a sit.

"I only came here to retrieve your parchment." The blonde's voice tensed slightly but his posture remained calm.

"Did you find it useful for your _relaxation_ session?" The old man asked with curiosity.

"Yes". Draco replied casually and didn't bother to see if Slughorn had any reaction.

"I'm glad to hear that." He sighed and leaned back against the armchair. "Please do take a sit. I'd like to have a few words with you."

Draco felt the weariness of his lack of sleep pulling him down. He'd left untouched his Valentine's breakfast earlier that morning, so the offer seemed fairly good at that moment. The Slytherin nodded reluctantly and took sit on a small couch with a snort of disgust, facing Slughorn's desk.

"I take that you like green tea?" He asked at the blond after pouring the hot liquid in the cup, pushing it to the edge of the desk for Draco to grab it.

Draco nodded in silence as he took the cup between both hands, warming them with the fuming infusion, letting the steam reach his nose and begin the slow process of waking up the rest of his grieved humanity. He then pulled himself back, resting his back on the soft velvet of the furniture as he felt the pull of fatigue drawing at his tired mind.

"Fancy some cookies?" The man lifted his furry grey eyebrows and handled a plate from across the desk.

"I'm not hungry". Draco replied avoiding the old man's gaze.

"Tonight I'll hold a party right here in my office to celebrate the Valentine's spirit. I've invited a small group of students I've considered worthy to spend some time with in order to get to know them a little more. Not that you've returned to Hogwarts I'd like to extent that invitation to you, Mr. Malfoy. You can come with a classmate….or girlfriend if you like." The tone on his raspy voice was paused and calculated.

The Slytherin rolled his tired eyes. "My prefect's duties come first, I'm afraid I have to decline your offer."

"I thought you'd find it quite interesting and challenging as well, like I've said before, only remarkable students like yourself would be present. Here, take a look at the list of the confirmed names." He encouraged, displaying the _Slug Club's_ parchment facing Draco.

The blond leaned forwards reluctantly and scanned fast through the lines, his amethyst blue eyes froze when he come up with the very last name added on the list: Luna Lovegood.

Draco then took a small sip of the tea while pressing the knuckles of his free hand into the arm rest. Slughorn sighed quietly to himself as he set his own empty cup down and stared at his student intently.

"Anger level is a concern; your health may suffer the consequences if corrective measures are not taken." He looked at Draco, suddenly serious.

Relaxing was the last thing in the young Slytherin's mind at that moment and seemed that the old man already knew that.

"I perfectly know how to control myself." The blond limited to reply.

"There's a difference between knowing how to do something and actually doing it." There was a tint of worry in the raspy lecturing tone of the old man. "Sometimes the brain can't process correctly the stress hormones that pump the body. Despite the fact that stress might sharpen our attention, or make us feel more focused and alert, we still can't slow down whenever our heart rate increases dramatically….making us lose control."

Pulling his silk blond hair with one hand, Draco replied calmly. "If I'd like Longbottom dead, we'd be worm-food by now. But he's still alive and kicking for I was just playing with him for being such a lousy lab partner."

Coughing through his uneasiness, the old man added. "Let's make sure he will continue to breathe for many years to come."

Those words made the Slytherin's pale forehead frown. "He's weak: he'll die fast…luckily for him, he won't suffer much."

Dismissing the blonde's remark, Slughorn opened the first drawer on his left and retrieved a copy of THE QUIBBLER: the very same one with Draco's face stamped on the front, and placed it over the desk.

"I'd like to know what pushed you to come back here." He said, tapping the magazine's copy with his index finger and added. "You've said there was nothing in this school left for you, what made you changer your mind, Mr Malfoy?"

Draco smirked at that remark and slumped down on the couch and head back, staring at the ceiling. "Never trust what's written on the media, professor."

"This magazine can be tilted of a lot of things, but it would never distort the truth. So I must assume that what you've said in here is a total lie?!" He frowned, monitoring the Slytherin's next move.

"Sometimes we don't see things as they truly are but as we are: if it's in your nature to be suspicious professor then I won't spend my time trying to convince you otherwise." Draco replied with the same lecturing tone the man used previously when addressing to him.

"Indeed". He nodded in between munching a cookie. "These are really good, are you sure you don't want one?"

"I'd rather pass". The blond frowned, looking at the man devouring yet another one.

"I wonder what other sensory passions you are holding up within yourself besides denying yourself of good food." Slughorn wondered in between bites.

Draco sat back in the couch, shaking his head slowly from side to side. "Eating may be partially for the sake of filling the stomach, and partially for the sake of comfort and amelioration of other needs. A person who is lacking of esteem would most probably hunger for food more strongly than for anything else."

Slughorn's face suddenly blushed considerably with embarrassment. "Yes, we're all _hungry _for something in this life." He shrugged, finishing the last cookie of the plate before he looked up at his student from across the desk. "What about you Mr Malfoy? What fulfils your _hunger_?"

He closed his amethyst blue eyes for a moment, levelling his breathing, trying hard not to denote the uneasiness in his voice. "You tell me, it's an open secret to you I'm afraid".

Grabbing the magazine between his fingers, Slughorn flipped through some pages and stopped all of a sudden. "You're famous now, is that what you were looking for, to be considered a _hero_ by the entire Wizardry World?"

Draco shook his head slowly and rubbed his eyes. "No matter what I do, people would always end up criticizing me. I don't care if they worship or despise me, as long as they stay the hell away from me they can do whatever they please".

Slughorn narrowed his eyes. "You did it all to impress or gain the heart of a lady perhaps?"

"That's absurd!" He shot back with a cold smirk curling his pale lips and added. "I never had to work hard to get the attention of the opposite sex."

Nodding, the old man's puffy face drew a mocking smile. "But you've confirmed that you let yourself be driven by your passions. So who is that _beloved _of yours?"

"We all treasure something in this life, it doesn't have to be a person_…_it can be a purpose, a concept, a goal…an ideal." The blond replied with a soulless voice without lifting those burning eyes of him to meet the old man's gaze.

The professor lifted a suspicious eyebrow and continued. "Remember Mr Malfoy: love involves both giving andreceiving. One may make love not only for pure sexual release, but also to convince one's self of one's masculinity, or to make a conquest, to feel powerful, or to win more basic affection…"

Draco blinked several times before lifting his gaze from his now empty tea cup, trying hard not to smash the porcelain with his bare hands with the sudden rush of anger that took possession of him.

"Again, don't take everything that's written there _literally_…dare to read between the lines." He smirked with a tint of pure malice as he lifted himself from his seat, leaving his intact and empty cup over the desk.

"I don't understand." Slughorn tilted his head to a side, looking really confused.

Draco raised his right hand, waving carelessly his long fingers in front of his professor's fluffy face as he started counting. "I'm a Malfoy, a pure-blood, a Slytherin, son of a Death Eater and I'm a murderer." He looked at his now closed fist and pressed it against his own chest with a vicious smirk curling his lips.

"All this time you only cared about yourself?" The old man concluded with a paper-white face.

Draco nodded as he shoved his backpack over his sharp shoulder blade. "The death of my enemy is the only thing that fulfils my _hunger_ Sir."

"Of course, a Death Eater has no sex needs or hunger needs, or needs for safety, or for love, or for prestige, or self-esteem…except in stray moments, like the one you're immersed in right now." He arched a thick grey suspicious eyebrow again and waited for Draco's reaction.

The blond smirked at that and crossed his arms. "I can't help being what I am, yes, but let me assure you that I've never been more focused regarding what I want and how to get it. It's all clear to me, I didn't saw it until now..." He paused, inspecting closely the old man's uneasiness. "You truly want to know why I came back?"

"Yes, I'd like to hear that." The professor replied looking extremely nervous.

Draco closed his eyes and took one deep, steady breath. All the rushing in his brain was gone along with all the anxiety and anger that struck him moments ago. When he opened his eyelids, feeling completely relaxed and in balance for he was feeling nothing at all: his pulse and emotions were aligned together into a straight flat line.

"This is where the downfall of my enemy would take place. This is where, once and for all, I'll put an end to his life." The darkness in Draco's amethyst blue eyes was intimidating enough to make Slughorn's heart froze with fear.

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	14. Chapter 14

**TODAY, AUGUST 14TH, IS MY BIRTHDAY!! **

**If you're still reluctant to post a review for this story can you at least write two words to wish me happy birthday... pretty please?**

Brief synopsis of 14th chapter: It's Valentine's Day Party! Confrontation between Draco/Luna and Blaise/Luna. Very intense drama and angst!!

...

Okay, I believe you've already noticed it, but the time line in this story is basically non-stop since Draco came back to Hogwarts in **Chapter 6th**.

So the arrival of Draco at Hogwarts took place on **Chapter 6th,** what happened that same night took place on **Chapter 7th.**

FIRST DAY of Draco's return: **Chapter 8th **(morning), **Chapter 9th **(afternoon and early night), the first part of **Chapter 10th** (late night).

SECOND DAY of Draco's return "Valentine's Day": continuation of **Chapter 10th** (early morning), **Chapter 11th** (late morning), **Chapter 12th **(early afternoon), **Chapter 13th** (late afternoon), **Chapter 14th** (early night)

_**With that said, enjoy the reading & please post your reviews, they help me a lot to keep this up!**_

#Once the truth is revealed, events will snowball beyond your control.#

Divinne

**CHAPTER XIV**

"_I'm in the middle of a breakdown watching you scream  
In the middle of a breakdown, screaming at me  
And by the way, by the way  
What made you think you'd have it your way?  
And by the way, by the way  
Don't say I didn't warn you that I'll always stay the same._

_Battered and bruised, broken, confused  
It's time we both knew can't stop what I started  
This time we both lose…lose."_

_(HINDER - "By The Way")_

He narrowed his dark eyes, partially hiding them behind those thick eyelashes as he watched closely and in complete silence the all-black dressed blond young man in front of him who was denoting a visible uneasiness as whether to hold such slender, gorgeous and tall body frame.

"Draco, stop pacing recklessly in circles like a madman and tell me what's going on." Blaise demanded to know raising both his eyebrows looking slightly annoyed.

Draco tensed and looked round at the strangely deserted Slytherin's common room. Once he finished the scrupulous visual inspection of the immediate area he walked towards his friend and sighed soundly.

Dragging his amethyst blue eyes away from the floor he confessed. "Slughorn was right, I need Luna…badly."

The jet black haired young man focused his judging stare at the dark circles under Draco's eyes and cursed silently. He wanted to slap him or shake him violently to bring Draco back to his senses.

Without wasting another minute, Blaise grabbed Draco by the collar with a tight grip and pulled him closer as he shot back with a scolding tone in his voice. "Bloody hell! Shape up, will you? You're so out of character! This stupid Valentine's Day obviously brought the worst in you."

After his friend released him from the grip, Draco frowned and glanced at his reflection on the wall's mirror only half-seeing it and before he could come up with something to say, he heard his own stomach's growling in reply. "Let's get something to eat, shall we?"

Blaise crossed his arms, tilting his head to a side, looking tired. "Everybody should have finished eating dinner by now; there'll be nothing left I'm afraid."

"You're right. That reminds me that I was invited to a certain party. I'm sure there'll be plenty to eat and drink." Draco raised a mocking eyebrow and smirked maliciously as he slowly walked out from the door waiting for Blaise to join him. "Are you coming or what?"

"Wait…what party?" Mumbled the other shaking his head, following Draco closely behind.

The answer to Blaise's question came shortly before he saw Draco pulling a great measure of meticulous politeness and patience from deep inside as he stepped inside the room, coming across an unusually drunk and merry Slughorn who greeted both young men flashing a broad smile.

"I'm glad you've decided to come to my party Mr. Malfoy, and you've brought a classmate with you, good! The more, the merrier." The old man said clapping his hands following the rhythm of a happy and festive tune that echoed the walls of the room.

Draco's eyes darted past the old man and went wide as the only real face he could registered from them mob was Luna's and once he caught her looking right back at him with those beautiful pearl grey eyes, he felt his heart beating even faster. His body was aching with overflowing urges he could barely repress.

"Don't do anything crazy, okay?" A voice hissed from behind Draco.

He turned and looked at Blaise who was emptying a large glass of butterbeer in one sip as he held with his other hand one filled glass for Draco to accept.

"There are two ways of confronting things in this life: you either find out what's behind everything or you choose to shut it all up and pretend it doesn't exist. Maybe it's time to find out if I'm mental or not. I mean, we just need to do crazy things to remind us what sanity means in the first place, right?" Draco said with an amused smirk as he sipped slowly the content of his glass.

Blaise opened wide his eyes and shook violently his head. "Oh Merlin…"

"You just relax, have fun and enjoy yourself. This is a party, remember?" Draco then grabbed a bunch of raisings from a plate and popped them into his mouth as he paced the room looking casually at the rest of the students who stare back at him exchanging uneasy smiles.

"_These gits might never remember the things I did or said, but they'd certainly never forget how I made them feel." _The blond said to himself as he munched a piece of lemon pie, probably made by Luna for it tasted incredible good.

He served himself a second helping and turned round again fixing his impassively amethyst blue eyes back at Luna from across the room as he said to himself. _"Luna, look at you, so lost, so broken. How can you stand this kind of pain? Being without you is intolerable."_

She looked as burnt out as him: both were physically and emotionally torn.

"Enjoying the party?" Asked Slughorn without expecting an answer because right when he looked at what Draco had on the plate, he rushed to the table and greedily seize the whole pie for himself.

Luna felt that the background music of the room was becoming more rumbling and dropping even lower in frequency as the intensity of Draco's gaze gained power over her.

"_Look at you walking in the dark. You're a guardian angel with blinded heart. Can't you see that our love is our_ _greatest crime?__ Can't you feel is aching desire burns like a sin upon you, upon us?"_ Luna concluded to herself as she felt her face burning all of a sudden.

"Oi, Luna!" Neville called out with a nervous attempt to gain back her attention. "You seem to be somewhere else, are you feeling okay?"

Luna's eyes closed shut slowly as she turned her head to look at him. "I was just thinking about putting in words what I'm feeling right now. But I guess I'd never be a good poet, I'll stick with painting."

"I see, so…who's your muse?" He asked curiously.

"Muse?" She frowned, looking very confused.

"Yeah, you know, that someone who encourages the awakening of your true self. Helping you to see who you really are and what you're capable of doing, that's what I'd call a _muse_." He explained and opened wide his eyes staring at her amusingly.

Neville was surprised to find out that he didn't entangle himself with the words, not once, in his speech. Luna congratulated him with a wink, feeling proud of her friend and how confident he managed himself despite it seemed to be only when they were talking alone.

"For instance, you're my muse." He shot back speaking his mind without realising he was actually speaking those words out loud and when he did his cheeks went red with embarrassment. "In many aspects, I mean…"

"That's so sweet Neville, but the credit is all yours, it's all in here." She replied caressing her hand over his chest. "You've got a kind heart, and of course it'll reflect in everything you do."

He blushed even more with her touch and sighed deeply. "Your trust in me gives me strength to prove myself everyday."

Taking a big breath, she half-closed her pearl grey eyes and hissed. "Neville, you know that I care about you a lot, don't you?"

Neville couldn't suppress his enthusiasm. "Me too!"

The light in Luna's eyes faded immediately with evident sadness. "Please don't get me wrong, you're my best friend. I don't want to confuse you and the last thing I'd want is to hurt your feelings."

Swallowing painfully, fully aware that she'd turn him down, Neville hushed her with a sad smile. "Luna, don't say another word. I might not be that bright but I'm not stupid either. I'd never ask you to give me more than you've already granted me. Your friendship means everything to me and I'd never dare to jeopardise that."

Luna's watery eyes melted him completely. "Thanks for understanding. I'd hate myself if we'd stopped being friends because of this, because of me."

He tried to force his numbed mouth to talk, he was still nervous. "Don't worry. I'll be always there for you, you won't lose me."

She then ducked her head to a side, catching sight of Draco coming their way and blushed madly. "Isn't it hot in here, or it's just me? I mean…I'm thirsty."

"Can I get you something to drink?" Neville offered like a true gentleman.

She nodded. "That would be great, thanks."

"I feel better whenever I come up across you, princess, even if it lasts juts a few moments. So I need to know how to live between these sporadic encounters." A soft hiss whispered in her ear, the angst in Draco's voice was heart-breaking, making her shiver when his hot breath touched her soft cheek.

Luna opened her mouth but words failed her as her stomach tightened in response as she said to herself_. "Draco, you're my muse."_

Draco took a step towards her and then another one, eliminating the remaining space between them. His hands were getting itchy to touch her as his amethyst blue eyes scanned every inch of Luna, admiring her splendid nature.

She was dressed in pale lilac and grey dominant colours with a lovely soft lilac blouse with tiny white butterflies' motif and a skirt composed of a double layer: the one behind the iridescent grey one was one with lilac and white stripes. The skirt was so long that it even covered entirely her high-heel white shoes.

He disguised perfectly his desperate attempt to touch her but still managed to brush softly her chin with two fingers as he leaned closer, his voice was just above a whisper. "Luna, tonight you've redefined the concept of true beauty."

She looked at him wide-eyed feeling vulnerable and helpless surrounded by his presence.

Closing shut his eyes for a brief moment as he breathed her whole. "So sweet, so tempting..." And when he opened them, some kind of peace bathed his amethyst blue eyes. "… and so incredible delicious: that lemon pie reminded me how much I miss your cooking." He finished mockingly.

Luna curved her button rose lips with a trembling smile. "Well, I'm glad to see you're feeding yourself with something else rather than mere air but I didn't make that pie."

Draco looked stricken suddenly, and faced her with wide eyes, he nearly choked. Luna welcomed that confused moment of him and made herself a way out from there, squeezing her tiny body from between the group of students gathered near the entrance.

But right after she took the first step outside Slughorn's office, Draco tugged her past the exit door and closed it behind him, caging her there, angling his body in so that his arms framed her shoulders and his hips nestled against hers.

Keeping his voice low he broke the silence. "We're alone...at last."

Luna froze, she was too stunned to move.

Draco took a long and deep breath, filling his lungs with the sweet aroma of her skin and brushed the tip of his nose against hers with tenderness. "I want to say that I can see and _smell_ your sadness: it's lovely."

She didn't know why, but saying her next words felt like climbing an infinite mountain. "I ever wondered if love is something you're supposed to have or something you're meant to lose."

"Luna, I was also designed to feel slightly dissatisfied with almost everything around me, I thought you were the exception." He said, turning his face away for a second, blinking hard as regaining some composure as he added. "Don't you dare to disappoint me."

She didn't answer, shaking with emotion and sadness. Draco took a closer look at her this time, and gently blew away from Luna's eyes those messy long and loose dirty blond curls from her face.

"Not having me in your life is no guarantee you won't suffer any pain." Draco's voice was quiet, tight and uncomfortably tense.

She knew in her bones that Draco would never hurt her on purpose, but it didn't mean she wouldn't get hurt, he had a point there.

"Please, let me go." She said as he pushed him away from her.

He grabbed her, twisting her arm around behind her, whispering into her ear. "I don't think so."

"Miserere (i)" Luna was trembling.

Abruptly he released her, looking up at her unemotionally. "Optimum est pati quod emendare non possis. Nemo nisi mors (ii)"

Luna blinked a few times, releasing herself from the trance as the possibilities of what he said took turns marching through her mind.

"If it wasn't from this connection we share, you'd never end up being with me, am I right?" Draco asked her, looking as serious as ever.

She started to speak twice, but stopped herself each time. "You're asking me or your asking yourself?"

Draco smirked and ran a hand through his silk blond hair. "Touché!"

"It's hard to argue when there's no logic, don't you think Draco?" She asked fighting the growing lump on her throat.

"I never said it had to be logical! Someone like _me_ ended up with someone like _you_? There's definitely no logic in that!" But the moment those words came out from his mouth he silently cursed himself for he wasn't thinking clearly through his anger.

Turning her head around slowly from side to side, she whispered. "You should have left me for dead."

"Hold on that thought for a minute and remember that I'm capable of almost anything." He replied without removing his cold piercing stare from her.

Luna couldn't hold his eyes any longer as tears started to form in hers, she closed them shut and whispered. "You once told me that you'd never wanted to have children and raise a family. Was it because you despise the idea of me having your child or you hate the idea of me loving somebody else rather than yourself, no matter if we're talking about our baby!? You're selfish, cold, heartless and..."

"What?" He made his tone intimate, provocative. "Tell me."

She hesitated, finally managing a soft hiss "Inhuman."

Draco stared at her lips with lust and this time he wasn't going to hide his burning desire for her.

He pushed himself against her; Luna's body was then trapped between the cold rock wall and his strong and hot body as he devoured her mouth with diabolical passion. Luna broke violently the kiss and threw him a hard look. But then she froze, feeling the salty taste of blood coming from an open cut on her lower lip. She was about to say something but she pursed her mouth shut and started crying.

Draco's teasing smirk slipped away and was replaced with a cold frown in honest indignation with himself. He felt some congestion inside his chest adding to the odd pains of uncertainty in his stomach. _"__I am Draco's inflamed sense of rejection."_

"When I saved your life and I tainted your pure self in the process I despised myself, but what else could I do? I wasn't going to let you die! Are you serious about wanting to have a baby with me, knowing that will destroy what's left of you? Would you endure to be corrupted with my seed? You know that once he grows up he'd end up being exactly like me: a monster! Now you realize why I don't want us to raise a family? All I ever wanted to do is protect you, even from myself. Can't you see that?" Taking a few steps back, he leaned against the opposite wall of the corridor as a buzzing high pitcher noise started to numb his ears.

Noticing how dangerously fast was accelerating his pulse's rate, Draco released his rage hitting hard on the wall with both clenched fists before turning back to face Luna one last time. "You are everything I'm not and that's what makes me love you and hate you at the same time. But you've just made me realize something: the kind of pain I feel when I'm without you is nothing in comparison with what I feel every time you reject me."

She stared at him through her watery pearl eyes without being able to pronounce a word or stop herself from shaking and crying so violently.

"FINE! I'm leaving. I've assessed the situation, and I'm going. I'm already late for my rounds." He said as he breathed with trouble through his anger and walked away without looking back.

Knowing that Luna's eyes were glued on his back, his pale lips curled with a tragic gesture. _"I like to feel your eyes on me when I walk away." _

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Luna remained quiet a moment, thinking, her then dried pearl grey eyes glittered with the ghost of those shameful tears. Shaking her head slowly, she pulled herself from the wall and walked a couple of unsure steps towards Slughorn's office but she stopped herself mere inches from the door, considering that it was better to call the night off and return to her dorm.

Right then the door opened wide and the hunched silhouette of Neville came into light. "Luna, where have you been?"

"Bathroom." She lied feeling awkward.

Neville was about to reply to her when someone from behind him pushed him violently out from the door frame and spoke first. Luna noticed right away the worried look in those dark eyes that stared at her without blinking.

"Lovegood, I've got to talk to you, in private" The black jet haired young man glanced up and Luna nodded, noting the constraint in his voice.

Grabbing her gently but firm by shoulders, Blaise led Luna to a desert place right between Slughorn's office and the Potion's classroom. Brushing with one hand her dirty blond curls from her foggy eyes he inspected her face in silence.

"Hey lovebirds, say cheese!" Called out the mouse-like voice of Colin Creevey after blinding Blaise and Luna with the flashes of his camera looking visible happy for taking a photograph of what he thought was a true Valentine's Day match.

Blinded by the light Blaise roared. "WHAT THE FUCK?!"

But Colin was long gone before the Slytherin got the chance to get even, that small boy certainly knew how to run fast away from trouble.

He then turned to look back at Luna, and fixed his gaze on her swollen lip, the cut seemed almost gone by then. "What happened with you and Draco tonight?"

Luna considered the question before answering; it was obvious that he was going to blame it all on her for infuriating Draco.

"My fault." She said, fixing her soggy eyes on the floor.

Cursing under his breath, he measured his next words carefully. "Lovegood, you know Draco is my best friend and I'll always support him no matter what. But I've never saw him more unbalanced and out of control, I'm worried."

"A friend's eye is always a good mirror." She looked tired and started to feel the coldness of the place.

He didn't answer immediately and that built a tense and odd discomfort in the silence between them.

He frowned. "He's not okay and it's all because of you: you're playing with fire!"

"No, I'm following my instincts." Luna shook her head, lifting slowly her sore gaze from the stone floor.

He rubbed his forehead with nervousness as he got angrier with her by the minute. "I'm not so sure I understand the distinction between both concepts."

"Semantics?" She arched one eyebrow and smiled shyly.

Blaise laughed shortly, completely without humour. Oh yes, he definitely couldn't stand her when she acted so narrow-minded. "You're mental _love_, did you know that?"

Fearing that tone of his, Luna let go a soft hiss. "Yes, I do actually."

"I'd suggest next time you met him you made up your mind and come clean with your feelings. Stop confusing him, will you? We both know what Draco is capable of doing when he snaps out." More than a warning, Blaise's words sounded like an ultimatum.

"Draco married me because he was afraid of dying due to this strange bond that we both share." She shot back feeling her throat constricted with a tight knot.

Blaise couldn't believe her words. He took a step closer and leaned forward towards her. "You are such a stupid, nutcase, blind girl. With your death the connection between you two would have disappeared, still he chose to endure hell on earth and risk his life in order to save you!"

With an ethereal thread of voice she replied. "What he feels for me is nothing but a maddening obsession."

"Draco's passions are strong and you're so damn lucky! Can't you see that many would literally kill to be in your place!?" Blaise got exasperated all of a sudden as he looked around him for something he could smash with his bare hands to suppress the strange adrenaline rush inside him.

Luna just stood there, watching him in silence, inspecting closely his reactions with trembling lips.

"Take out your wand. I have something to show you." He sighed, pocketing his hands inside his cloak, getting ready as he waited for her to cast the spell.

Luna cleared her throat and lifted her chin. Blaise's mocking raised eyebrows were her signal. "Legilimens!"

As a countless number of fractal cut images flashed from Blaise's mind, Luna let herself be guided to that specific memory he wanted her to see.

_The silhouette of Draco came into view: she was seeing him through Blaise's eyes and hearing the blonde's voice past his best friend's ears. Luna heard Blaise's voice echoing inside her skull as she caught sight of Draco's immutable sculpted face: _

"_Draco, the idea of putting an end to that connection and be free of her never crossed your mind?" _

_She saw Draco pulling back with both shaking hands the silk blond hair from his forehead and shrugged:_

"_Yes, at first all I felt was anger and frustration for being dragged to Luna by some mysterious forces against my will. The idea of her casting a curse on me or putting some Love Potion when I was unaware crossed my mind countless of times too. I guess when Snape told me that by denying what was happening would end up destroying us, I freaked out and marry her without even thinking in what I was getting myself into. I had to make sure that Luna would be by my side no matter what in order to stay alive." _

_Blaise's voice insisted once more:_

"_Then why didn't you do something about it when you had the chance to end it all?" _

_Right then, Luna noticed that Draco shook violently his head as if to get rid of his thoughts and smirked in a strange way: _

"_I did. Once I understood what was happening between us, I became addicted to her. I had to make sure nothing would ever break it. That's why I chose to perform a binding spell on us when transferring the Ghoul's powers to Luna. If our connection was already strong, with the binding ritual I happened to tied us even more with our blood."_

_Seemed that Blaise's sight got blurred all of a sudden and focused his eyes somewhere else before coming up with his next words: _

"_Right, you've chose to sink even deeper by keeping her alive. I don't see the point then in coming back to Hogwarts if you know she'll eventually come back to you. So, why are we here?!"_

_In reply, she saw that the blond bite his lip as he got closer to his friend and whispered:_

"_I had to make sure nothing bad happens to the woman I love. What's your excuse Blaise?"_

Luna awoke from the spell with a loud high-pitch sound and a blinding flash of light. She blinked hard and opened her jaw in an attempt to get rid of the funny sensation on her ears and eyes.

Blaise tilted his head to a side, regaining conscience and rolled his eyes before fixing them back at Luna. "When he gave you his own blood, you got not only cured from your disease, but also became stronger in the process. That's why you took off, right? You think you can now survive without him?"

She didn't reply and only shook her head slowly back and forth, still looking down.

He then sighed painfully. "There is no place to hide from what you both share unless you're considering suicide. Why don't you weight that option inside that little head of yours for a moment, uhm?"

Holding up the tears from running down her cheeks she sobbed. "I bet you'd like that, you can't even stand the sight of me."

Breathing through his anger, he replied. "The way I'd handle myself it's actually up to you _love_. Make Draco suffer, I'll turn your life into a living nightmare. Make him happy, I'll worship you like a goddess. Got the message?"

"You don't know what Draco did to me." She hissed with a thread of voice, her eyes filled with tears.

Grabbing fiercely by her right hand, he aimed her wand towards him again. "Oh yes _love_, I know".

This time an endless trail of swirl images flashed from Blaise's mind and Luna felt being dragged towards another selected memory of him.

_She recognized the place immediately: it was the Chateau's dining room. _

_Blaise's voice hummed inside her skull, delivering the soft echo of his own words:_

"_Meaning you're visible 'all-bad' for her. Draco, what did you exactly do to Luna?"_

_She saw Draco leaning against the chair with his arms crossed over his chest, he was visible tired and the dark circles under his eyes made his amethyst blue gems looked hollow: _

"_She now remembers what I did to her back at St. Mungo's. Once I've got rid of the pact's possession and gain the strength and powers of the Ghoul to pass them to Luna, the second part of my plan was the problem. In order to transfer them I had to get inside her body and mind to achieve full access of her…'_

_Blaise's gaze rested then in the fuming infusion he was drinking: _

"_You mean literally getting in her guts?"_

_There was a long silence and when Blaise looked up, Draco had covered his face with both hands:_

"_Yes, but I cheated during the binding spell: I performed a mirroring charm before I got started with the ritual…this way she experienced what I was feeling…and vice-versa."_

_The sound of hushing noises seemed to fill Luna's skull as she realized that Blaise might not had understood what the blond said. She saw that Draco then removed his hands from his face and sighed soundly, rolling his eyes. Luna perfectly knew that reaction of Draco for he did it every time he had to explain something he considered obvious:_

"_Snape was right, Luna wouldn't endure the ritual's process, she was too weak. So I had to make sure she'd survive until the end of the rite, no matter what happened to me in the process. After all I'm used to endure almost any kind of pain and torment thanks to Lucius' training. I'm a Death Eater, remember?" _

_Blaise's sight came in and out of focus, as if he was slowly realising the facts: _

"_So the pain Luna felt was actually your…agony for hurting her?"_

_And when Blaise turned back to look at his friend, something strange happened that made Luna's insides twist and turn with guilt. Draco nodded, his eyes were shining with those silent tears he desperately wanted to hold back._

_Blaise tried to phrase some words inside his mind before speaking them out loud:_

"_You were the one who felt the insides broken then: you were the one who was dying! Draco, because you made that decision of exchanging places, that's why you happened to transfer part of your bio-energy during the binding spell?" _

_Draco swallowed painfully, nodding slightly before replying: _

"_In my desperation, once I was draining the sickness away from her, I not only took her pain and weakness but also part of her. So I must have exchanged what I took from Luna with a part of me, without even knowing."_

_She then heard the noise of a chair being kicked back as Blaise's eyes lifted, levelling his standing position:_

"_Draco, you were willing to die for her?! What good would it be if she recovered but you ended up dead?!"_

_Draco leaned back and looked up at the chandelier hanging on the ceiling: _

"_She would be the one to mourn my death; she would have been the one to carry on living with that loss. I'd rather die than be the one left behind." _

_Looked like Blaise was walking towards Draco and stopped just a few steps from where the blond was sited: _

"_You think your wife would have carried on with her life after what you did for her?"_

_Draco seemed to have his stare fixed on the ceiling in what seemed a desperate attempt to hold back the tears, for he did not turn back to look at his friend with those watery eyes when he replied: _

"_Sure, she has a loving father and many friends. I only have her."_

Blaise's mind then tried to cut off Luna from access deeper into his memories, but to his surprise he found that Luna wasn't letting go, as is she were reinforcing the spell, wanting to see more.

_Luna then continued searching through the same memory and saw Blaise's gaze focusing on his own empty hands, they were shaking badly. _

"_What about me? I'm your best friend…don't I count for something?!"_

_Draco lowered his blurred amethyst blue eyes this time and narrowed them when looking back at his friend: _

"_Of course you do! I trust you to be the only man who'd protect and take care of Luna without touching a single hair of hers. Still you'd have your so deserved reward, for you wouldn't be doing that without getting something in exchange, am I right? Part of my fortune would have been destined to pay for your most generous services of course."_

_Seemed that Blaise made a half turn for all of a sudden he was facing the window as he pronounced his next words with a serious tone in his voice: _

"_You know I'd do it without your even asking or expecting anything in return. You're my best friend and I'd do anything for you: I'd make sure nothing bad happen to Luna, stopping as well anyone who'd dare to touch her, rest assure she'd honour your memory with her very last breath."_

_Blaise turned round again as soon as Draco's voice broke the silence with a mocking smirk:_

"_Right, you're saying that because there's no way I'd know if I actually have died."_

_Maintaining the same tense tone in his voice, this time blended with mild irony and changing completely the subject, Blaise replied: _

"_So she ended up blaming you for actually saving her? Seems the 'healing' process turned out to be the outbreak of her trauma. What doesn't kill you simply makes you… 'stranger'?"_

Again, a blinding light troubled Luna's vision field as Blaise managed to break the spell abruptly.

"No more, I've said STOP!" He muttered with clenched teeth after disarming her.

Luna fell hard to the ground after being violently pushed backwards all of a sudden by Blaise's contra-spell. She rubbed her eyes once the ghosts of those images disappeared from her vision field and focused on the tall figure that was standing in front of her.

Blaise looked like he was about to turn round without saying another word but then he sighed soundly and, fixing a serious dark stare on her, he shot back. "It's not easy for Draco to demonstrate his feelings, you're right about that. He hardly says _please_ and you'd definitely never heard him saying _I'm sorry._ But what he feels for you is strong, powerful and raw in its nature for that's the only way he knows how to love!"

Luna shrugged, feeling pathetic. "Why are you telling me all this?"

"Because I happen to care a lot about Draco's happiness and you mean the world to him, that's why." Saying those words to Luna made Blaise's insides burn and twist with the blazing puncture of envy towards her.

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**A/N: **

(i) Miserere (Latin): Have mercy.

(ii) Optimum est pati quod emendare non possis. Nemo nisi mors (Latin): It is best to endure what you cannot change. Nothing but death (shall tear us apart).

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	15. Chapter 15

Brief synopsis of 15th chapter: Something tragic happens to Draco right after Valentine's Party, things wouldn't be the same between him and Luna after tonight…

**I don't get it. Twenty-eight people subscribed to receive the updates of this fic and less than 1 per cent of them actually post a review. More than upset, I'm frustrated. The sad thing is that I've got a whole planned for the upcoming chapters (this fic was set for 28 chapters) but with the harsh lack of reviews I guess CHAPTER 15TH would be the last chapter I post.**

**IT WAS GOOD TIL IT LAST, HAVE A NICE LIFE.**

**Divinne**

**CHAPTER X****V**

"_Feelings, nothing more than feelings_

_I'm t__rying to forget my feelings of hate._

_Feelings, for all my life I'll feel it  
I wish I'd never met you, you'll make me sick again.  
Feelings, oh oh feelings of hate on my mind._

_Feelings, feelings like I never liked you  
Feelings like I want to kill you live in my heart  
Feelings, feelings like I wanna deck you  
Feelings like I've gotta get you out of my life._

_Feelings, oh oh feelings, the hate's in my eyes  
Feelings, oh oh feelings, you're not very nice."_

_(THE OFFSPRING – "Feelings")_

At first sight Draco looked unusually peaceful and relaxed. He was half reclined against the corner of the couch with one leg on the floor and the other dangling half way off the couch. The vivid red flames on the fireplace projected a colourful shade into the blonde's sickly pale skin. His head rested against the soft and deep cushion comfortable enough to invite him to rest, at least for a while, for he was starting to feel really tired to do anything else.

He wanted to sit there and contemplate the fact that maybe, for no reason he could think of, fate screwed up his life completely. Or was it was probably destiny? He couldn't quite figure out which one hated him most, perhaps they conspired. But no matter how hard he tried to figure it out inside his head, he knew deep down inside that he'd fallen in love with Luna from day one and that nothing but his true own feelings pushed him to be with her.

"_She can't help being the way she is, nor can I." _He said to himself.

Draco exhaled deeply, looking round for that something that caught his attention from the corner of the eye. "I can't say I'm surprised to see you."

Blaise swallowed nervously. "You didn't change the secret word since the last time I came here."

"Why would I?" He smirked tiredly, reminding the night Blaise dragged him to that very same dorm and forced him to play chess all night just to keep him awake and prevent another relapse after the incident at the prefect's bathroom.

"You've left the party abruptly, are you feeling okay?" Blaise asked, realising then that the dark shade under Draco's eyes was a combination of weariness, lack of sleep, irritation and anger.

Rubbing his eyes with trembling fingers Draco replied. "I was running late for my prefect's rounds."

"But you've locked yourself in your dorm instead, why?" Blaise calm voice was betrayed by the worried look in his face.

"Who cares?" The blond tossed out with a mockingly sour smirk. "Look, can you come back later? I'm thinking here."

"_I _care about you." Blaise felt his heart broke a little but then it rejoined almost immediately. "You're always thinking and that's your problem: you think too much."

The moment he lifted from the couch, Draco felt a strange puncture on his stomach followed by an overwhelming sensation of burning pain. He leaned forward, trying to ease the soreness but to his amazement it disappeared as fast as it stuck him.

Feeling way better he turned to face Blaise but froze. "Why are you staring at me like that!?"

Blaise barely managed to conceal the confused rush of feelings inside him, twisting to near breaking inside. "I think you must have one of those faces one can't help stop looking at."

Draco shook his head and walked past his friend with a scolding look stamped all over his face but Blaise stopped him with a hand on his arm and didn't release his grip.

The blond blinked twice, shaking his arm violently. "Merlin! We both keep doing the same thing over and over and over and over again, expecting a different result. We're both insane, do you realize that?!"

He knew that Draco was right; still Blaise swallowed his angst and looked up at the blond. "You're the one in love with the wrong person, not me."

"I want my life back, I want it back before everything got so messed up, but I can't turn back time." Draco's voice sounded dry and hollow, he started to feel his breathing getting deeper as if his lungs were desperately in need to take in as much air as possible.

Blaise shrugged and touched his chest unconsciously, feeling the sterling locket he kept under his shirt. "Glad to hear I'm not the only one who still treasures those good old memories."

"We're not the naïve brats we were once. We've grown up into…this." He narrowed his amethyst blue eyes and brushed nervously his hands over his black sweater, feeling his heartbeats rising at an escalating fast rate.

"Into what exactly have we turned ourselves into Draco?" Blaise appeared to be getting really intrigued, but at the same time he seemed really concerned about his friend.

With a confused frown, the blond said. "You tell me. How it feels to care about something passionately?"

"Well, some say there's a reason for everything." Blaise coughed quietly and leaned against the fireplace, warming his cold and grieved humanity.

"What is it then because I can't figure it out." Devastated, Draco concluded miserably emptying out his lungs all at once.

Without removing his dark eyes from the flames, the black jet haired man replied. "Let's see…it gives you a purpose in life?"

"So does revenge. I'd like it better when all I felt was pure anger and hate." Draco then took from the right pocket of his pants his small pocket knife, the one with the black handle and start handling it between his fingers.

"I guess hate is easier to deal with, love just tends to complicate things." Blaise turned and smiled at Draco with everything but his eyes.

"Bull's eye!" The blond smirked after using the knife as dart, nailing it right in the eye of the snake in the Slytherin's carved wood plaque hanged on top of the fireplace.

Blaise lifted his gaze and slowly made his way towards his friend once more, this time he limited to clap a hand over Draco's shoulder and removed it as soon as he felt the sharpness of the blonde's bone structure. "Man, you're really tense.'

Draco's face was a dark shadow of confusion, then disbelief, then something completely unidentifiable. "There haven't been any quiet moments to relax. I tried to keep myself busy brewing some potions in the meantime."

Lifting both his eyebrows with an amused look, Blaise stared at the countless flasks piled over the shelves and desk on the corner of the room. Seemed like the blond tried with all his might to ease his frustration and end up creating a small apothecary by himself.

"You're running out of place to store them." He joked scratching his chin as he inspected the content of the potions and added. "So, did you have the chance to talk with Luna at the party tonight?"

"Each time we talk, things got worse between us." Draco's eyes blinked away for the thinnest fraction of an instant, then back to his friend completely changed and added. "I can't blame her for being afraid of me. I've tried to get closer to her and all I get is scared her even more."

Blaise looked up and seemed about to reply, then shook his head and laid his curious eyes back on the large collection of potions. "Can I have one of these?"

The blond didn't understand where Blaise's train of thought was going so he limited to reply. "I keep the poisons under lock and key."

Once Blaise faced his friend, it was evident that something was upsetting the blond. "Listen to me, I've been thinking..."

"Oh, really?" Draco's lips curled with a sceptic smirk as he summoned his pocket knife and threw it again, and again, each time nailing it perfectly in the very same spot.

But then Draco gave his back to the target and threw the knife, once he turned round he saw that he still managed to stab it right in the middle of the tiny eye of the snake…again. He opened wide his amethyst blue eyes, with a winning smirk.

Pocketing something under his robes without Draco's noticing, Blaise said. "Listen, will you!? Make her suffer: get laid with other women, whatever….act like a man!"

Slowly twisting the ring around his finger Draco threw a cold piercing stare at his friend.

"That's the opposite of acting like a _man_, that's acting like Lucius Malfoy, and I'm not like him!" He roared. "I've seen, lived and suffered what he did to my mother for years and I've promised myself I'd never do that to Luna because not a scumbag!"

The two young men stared at each other for a full minute. Draco felt weary and irritated.

"You need a drink then, probably a couple of drinks, or a lot more than that." Blaise concluded, waving casually both hands on the air.

"No. What's the point in getting drunk anyway? The problems just won't drown, they won't sink, won't disappear. Everything would just turn up a lot worse." He paused, there was something definitely strange going on inside him, he could feel a rush on his bloodstream starting to overheat his flesh.

"What?" Blaise frowned, trying to figure out the sudden tragic expression in Draco's face.

"I'm so pissed off with Luna right now that if I get drunk I'd probably ended up killing her. The idea is becoming increasingly tempting inside my head." Draco took a big breath; he was feeling sickly turned on just to think about it. "I got away with murder before, why not again? Once you know exactly how to do it and how the adrenaline pumps your heart, well, it makes the act of killing a pleasant hobby actually."

"You can't be serious about killing her, are you?" Blaise asked, truly curious, hoping he didn't look that intrigued or delighted with such news.

"If is true that I'm losing my mind, I'm supposed to act out, right?!" Draco started to mumble in between words, remembering the inverted letters of the Erised mirror. "Say I'm sick! Say I'm sick!"

Blaise shrugged, feeling sorry for the blond. "Yes, you are. You are very sick…"

Drawing some words in the air with his index finger, Draco shot back. "No! Say it backwards, as if they were reflected in a mirror."

Blaise smiled stupidly, hesitating for a brief moment if Draco was pulling his leg or taking serious this time as he tried to get the message inside his mind. "Kcismiyas?"

"Rearrange the spaces in between…" The blond said through clenched teeth, losing his temper.

"Kcis…miy…as?" The black jet haired man mumbled with a puzzled look.

"Yeah! Mirror or Erised, kiss my arse! And that even rhymed!" Draco celebrated opening wide his eyes as the white of his orbs flashed scarily tainted with a reddish blur of rising madness.

In reply, Blaise burped. "And that's me farting backwards."

Dismissing his friend's comment, Draco said with a tense and serious face. "Whenever I'm this upset I just can't feel a thing except my rage: I can't eat, can't sleep and I can't even focus my thoughts properly. I'm completely numb to everything around me. The hell with Slughorn's anger management sessions!"

"Can I try something then? I've got to give a shot at it before I think about it twice. Can I, please?" Blaise asked in childlike tones.

Draco rolled his eyes, despite his much-needed purging of frustrated energy he knew his friend's idea would only made things worse. "Blaise, I wouldn't do that if I were you."

No matter how threatening sounded Draco's warning, it didn't discouraged Blaise from punching the blond full in the stomach.

Taking a couple of steps back, Draco's body immediately recoiled into a knot. "Fuck you!"

"Oh yeah…I'd fuck me. I'd fuck me hard!" Blaise laughed out loud, tossing the words back at Draco. "I give you something to f_eel_, right?" Then, with a guilty look, he added. "Oh shit. Did that hurt?"

"You hit like a crippled old woman!" Draco lied, it was hurting like hell.

Putting a hand on Blaise's back he gave him a violent shove, almost stamping his friend's humanity against the wall. "Now leave me alone before I make you pay for it."

Blaise turned round; he could feel his own face getting strangely warm as the words came from his mouth without even thinking. "I cannot leave alone a soul in pain. I don't like to see you upset."

Draco sighed deeply and to his amazement he could hardly felt the punch by then. "If I were you, I would invest in blindfolds."

Clapping with both hands, Blaise celebrated with a broad smile, waiting for Draco to pick up on his train of thought. "Kinky!"

Draco rolled his eyes, cursing under his breath. "Blaise, you are one twisted git! Just leave, okay?"

"Nope!" He grinned, kicking off his shoes as he stumbled tiredly on Draco's couch.

"Suit yourself, I'm too tired to argue anyway." The blond said, rubbing his forehead with his open palm.

But in fact Draco was feeling quite the opposite and he'd probably never wanted to admit it, not even to his best friend, but something inside him was starting to change, to morph into something dangerously powerful and out of control.

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Moments after Blaise leaned back into the couch and closed his eyes, he fell almost immediately asleep for he was really beaten. The annoying snoring that echoed inside Draco's ears confirmed that his friend had finally dozed off.

Draco shook his head and let go of his wedding ring which he had been twisting around his finger for the past half hour. "Silencio!"

He then pocketed his wand and rolled his eyes, fixing them at the ceiling once more. But now that the room was completely silent he felt even worse. Every sound was increasing dramatically inside his skull: his own breathing, the creaking on the wood caused by the wind, even the one of his own blood pumping through his veins was starting to gain volume. He was lying on the bed, resting over his back with his hands crossed against his chest. He was still fully dressed; he didn't even bother to take off his shoes.

He sat forward and pressed both hands into his forehead to stop them from shaking. He looked confused for a moment, then somewhat disgusted. _"I can't take this anymore, it has to stop."_

Looking up at the clock hanged on the wall, he checked the hour: it was almost midnight. Slughorn's Valentine party would be still on and maybe there was a slightly change to come across Luna once more. With that thought in mind Draco got up from the bed and headed towards the door, closing it shut behind him with a soft creaking noise.

Before heading towards his potion's professor office, Draco made a detour and found himself glancing at the Quidditch field from one of the balconies of the second floor.

It was a starless and freezing night. He didn't knew how long did he remain there leaning against a column, staring blindly at the empty field when he realized that the extremely cold breeze was starting to hurt his eyes, forcing him to close them shut for a brief moment, realizing then the cold surrounding that haunted his slender body frame for the first time.

The deeper his breathing became, the higher the humming behind it resounded into the Slytherin's skull. That strange noise then gain in strength as his thoughts got drowned out among the distortion, still his alertness was as accurate as ever, from the corner of his eye he caught sight of Luna, completely alone, walking fast towards the Ravenclaw's Tower.

Grabbing her from behind in a choke-hold he hissed into her ear. "This is all your fault."

Unable to scream, she remained still but Draco saw that she was slowly stretching her arm, searching for something inside her purse, probably her wand.

"Expelliarmus!" He said clenching his teeth, his self-control slipping by the minute.

He grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her back against the wall. "You perfectly knew you were my only weakness and you turned those feelings against me. That was a very bad move Luna, a terrible bad one. You better stop playing hard to get because I've got enough of that already."

"Draco, you're scaring me." She sobbed; her hand dangling over her chest, her pearl grey eyes dilated a bit too much.

"You were right to be afraid of me, sweetheart. Nothing would ever stop me from getting what I want, and when I want something badly, I'll do anything to have it!" He arched an eyebrow dripping with sweat as a bolt of lust shot through him.

"_I'm Draco's __unleashed libido__."_ He was confronting a painful and uncomfortable position for he was unable to control what was swelling enthusiastically under his pants.

Luna tried to wrench herself from his embrace but he wouldn't let her go. He wasn't going to be gentle or tender with her, not this time, not anymore. His enraged amethyst blue eyes were filled with basic animal instinct.

"The proximity of you, my thoughts of you, my lusting for you are driving me insane. I need to touch you and to feel you….and this time I won't let you push me away." He moistened his lips with his tongue and then he started nibbling her ear, running his fingers through her dirty blond curls.

"You smell different sweetheart." He frowned while brushing his lips against her cheeks, something strange was happening, he tried to lock his eyes with hers but no connection was achieved. "And I feel you so….distant…can't reach inside you."

Luna raised her eyebrows, giving him a blank look, paralyzed with terror as he leaned over her, his hands sliding down past her waist, then lower, to her thighs.

"I don't care what you're doing of how you've managed to shut me out. All I know is that I can't take it any longer. I was the first and I'll be the last man in your life, tonight it all ends here. I can't live like this…I simply can't so I'm going to kill you…no…I'm going to kill us both! But first I'll take advantage of you for the last time." The violence of the lust rushing through him was frightening.

Draco bit down on her lips so hard that forced Luna to open her mouth moaning in pain, that was when he thrust his tongue inside her mouth kissing her with ravenous passion. He then encircled both her wrists with his strong hands and fell forward against her over a stone bench, crushing her fragile body between the cold stone and his hard body without breaking the kiss. He kept pressing his tongue into her mouth in a possessive manner, claiming, almost ordering her to respond.

"Tell me you want me, Luna. I need to hear it." His voice was cracking, it sound both vulnerable and demanding.

Luna was trapped, she couldn't say anything for her lungs were chocking against the pressure of the feverish body on top of her.

"Say that you want me as badly as I do." Draco felt sickeningly, and grotesquely turned on.

She opened her mouth but no sound came out from it, her cheeks were turning red, she was trying to catch some air to breath.

Every inch of him was aching with desire. He lifted her long grey and lilac double layer skirt and forced her to spread her legs as he continued to devour her mouth in a maddening state of trance, rocking himself against her.

"Say that you want me inside you, SAY IT!" It was almost too much, too fast, and he knew he couldn't stand that hot friction much longer. He ripped her panties and unzipped his pants all in a consecutive motion.

"Draco, I want you, I LOVE YOU!" She cried forcing the air out of her lungs.

He opened wide his amethyst blue eyes staring at her, coming back to his senses and realized what he was about to do as a sudden sickness came over him. Memories of Lucius then crushed into his skull, filling his ears with sounds and screams of what happened behind his parent's room closed doors. A mixture of rage, despair and overwhelming gilt struck Draco like a powerful lighting.

"No, I'm not like him, I'm not Lucius!" He would castrate himself if he hurt Luna again.

"I feel sick. I _am_ sick!" Lifting his body from above her, the rolled to a side of the bench and fall to the ground, embracing his body tight as he started to convulse violently. "Luna, run, get away from me!"

Luna took sit on the bench, trying with all her might to catch some air before doing anything else. She then pulled down both of her shirt's sleeves to cover the deep blue bruises on her wrists and stood up. A serious yet strangely calm look haunted her pearl eyes when she stared back at him.

"Draco, you know I'd never leave you behind, no matter what." She said, straightening her clothes with a shaky pulse as she noticed that her skirt got all torn out in threads.

It took a second or two for Draco to realize what was going on as the situation seemed to have changed dramatically, if that was even possible.

He blinked hard, trying to focus as he picked himself up from the floor, leaning against a column for support. "Blaise?!"

"Yes, it's me. Thanks for the polyjuice potion by the way." She winked, running her fingers through her swollen lips.

"_I'm Draco's __revolted stomach." _He swallowed hard still feeling strangely dry his throat, he looked completely exhausted. "How did you know I was going to be here waiting for Luna?"

"An inspired guess?" She shrugged staring at her small feet.

Draco frowned and shook his head to the sides. "But you were soundly asleep in the couch when I took off…"

"I always sleep with an eye open when I'm babysitting." She arched an eyebrow and brushed those dirty curls from her forehead behind her ears.

"I was this close to rape you…to rape Luna!" Draco was finding hard to swallow by then as his mouth got strangely dry and raspy, feeling his insides twisting with a fiery pain. "Just get the hell away from me!"

"I must confess I was finding really difficult to play the part of that frigid wife of yours because I like it rough." The fake Luna said as her cheeks flushed with a tint of red.

"What?!" Draco chocked, it was not the right time to make sick jokes about it. "What were you thinking man by posing for Luna?!" He narrowed his amethyst blue eyes in confusion.

"What were YOU thinking? Earlier tonight you told me you were going to kill Luna, I freaked out mate! I simply couldn't let you do that." She shot back, looking serious.

"You were willing to risk your life for her?" Draco's breath came in quick, short gasps. He sounded shocked.

She frowned, shaking her head looking pissed off. "Hell no! I just wasn't going to let you commit murder!"

"What a way to convince me not to kill her, now I want to kill you instead." He lifted his head, throwing a cold and dark stare at the fake Luna.

"I bet you do, but the thing is that I've just spared the real Luna from another trauma. I say I did a pretty good job after all, don't you agree?" The girl curled her lips in a soft smile.

Draco frowned feeling irritated by her tone, but didn't show it. He refused to admit that Blaise was right.

"Merlin! Look at me, look at us! I feel so frustrated and angry and…" Draco paused; he started to sweat profusely, feeling worse than ever.

"…itchy?" The fake Luna asked, and there was no mistaking where her gaze dropped, right into Draco's open fly.

"You even copied Luna's voice. Stop talking damnit!" Draco looked up; he tried to phrase it delicately, but gave up. "I want to fuck the brains out of you because you look like her and I can hardly control myself! Just stunt me, cast some freezing spell on me, do something!" He grabbed his head with both hands and rested his back against the column.

"Finish what you've started then." She teased him, sounding as confident and flirtatious as possible walking towards him. "I'm willing to give you everything your wife denies you."

Draco seemed to think about it for a second but then shook his head sharply. "Behave, will you?!"

"I'm being good, I'm being nice, I'm being-have." She winked at him.

"Woah, don't!" Draco jerked back when her hand rubbed around his soreness, feeling him up.

"Damn, Draco, you're so big…" She said, putting a fingernail between her teeth.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Draco yelled with desperation was he took a few steps away from her, hovering between forward and backward motions.

He tried to rearrange his pants but he just kept missing at the zip as he glanced nervously at the false Luna.

Everything around him was blurred, the images were switching fast in and out of focus and he was visible losing his balance. "Can't….breath…."

Draco's vision began to dim as his air supply was cut off and it all went dark.

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A/N:

**Update September 3rd: **

Wow! This is just crazy. After my ultimatum, I've received 5 new subscribers to my fic (33 people are following what I write now!) and got the chance to hear your feedbacks, at least from some brave souls out there, Thanks!

Yes, I'll continue to post the new chapters soon and finish the whole story (set for aprox. 28/29 chaps…don't know for sure).  
Warning, as the updates get closer to the final chapter, they will get darker and traumatic...

Sneak preview of the topics to cover in the next chapters:  
Marked rivalry between Luna/Blaise  
Draco's parents and past will come to light  
Snape's life and future will turn round drastically  
Luna/Draco relationship as well as Draco/Blaise friendship will confront defining moments  
You'll get to read a very disturbing way to destroy a Horcrux  
……and most important of all  
What will eventually push Draco to define his true nature... is he GOOD or is he EVIL??

This fic is an ode to friendship, love, life, honor, will power…just to name a few...sure…got that...right... but also digs into the depths of Dark Magic, madness, hatred, rivalry, jealousy, capital sins, moral issues, religion, death…and more...so much more.

Oh yeah...the show must go on!

Divinne


	16. Chapter 16

A/N:

YUP, I'M BACK!

Resume of this chapter in one phrase:

Draco is so lucky to have such a loyal and devoted friend like Blaise to rely on (...right?)

...

Okay, I believe you've already noticed it, but the time line in this story is basically non-stop since Draco came back to Hogwarts in **Chapter 6th**.

So the arrival of Draco at Hogwarts took place on **Chapter 6th,** what happened that same night took place on **Chapter 7th.**

FIRST DAY of Draco's return: **Chapter 8th **(morning), **Chapter 9th **(afternoon and early night), the first part of **Chapter 10th** (late night).

SECOND DAY of Draco's return "Valentine's Day": continuation of **Chapter 10th** (early morning), **Chapter 11th** (late morning), **Chapter 12th **(early afternoon), **Chapter 13th** (late afternoon), **Chapter 14th** (early night), **Chapter 15th** (late night).

THIRD DAY of Draco's return: **Chapter 16th** (early morning).

**_With that said, enjoy the reading & please post your reviews, they help me a lot to keep this up!_**

CHAPTER XVI

**CHAPTER XVI**

"_Shut down, falling over once again  
Dropped out, hand extended from a friend  
Looked up and there's you looking in  
And who cares 'cause no one's looking anyway  
Impaired, my vision lost it yesterday  
And that's fine, I don't mind feeling that way  
Just don't let me lie here by myself._

_Let's go, I know I'm faded, outta sight  
Tonight just stay with me, I don't wanna go home  
Outta sight, tonight, so rescue me, I don't wanna go_

_Rewind and take me back to the start again  
Ducked out, 'cause paranoia's setting in  
But I'm with you until the end."_

_(UNWRITTEN LAW - "Rescue Me")_

Luna continued to stare at Draco, who laid unconscious on the bed, contemplating him in silence for what seemed like an eternity. She inhaled deeply and let the breath out slowly as those silent tears rolled down her cheek. She then grabbed one of his cold and sickly pale hands between hers and kissed it before pressing it against her wet cheeks. She noticed that his eyes shifted rapidly under the eyelids, clear sign that some activity was going on inside his brain, reacting slowly to that external stimulation.

"Please wake up sleepyhead." Her pearl grey eyes closed shut, trying in vain to stop crying. Draco's hand was colder than snow. "I'd never forgive myself for this, how could I be so stupid? You were right all this time, we don't belong here. I need you. I love you, so very much…"

She then pulled away from his forehead some silk blond curls and traced with her fingertips the contour of his sharp jaw and chin. But when she heard someone coming, she froze and crossed her arms against her chest, shrugging.

"Still here, shouldn't you be in class?" Pomfrey asked with a scolding look.

"Poppy, why isn't Draco waking up?" She bit her lower lip, looking quite uneasy.

"He was admitted almost at the same time as Slughorn with what seemed to be a mild food poisoning. But unlike his professor, Malfoy's system show almost no trace of the elements found in Slughorn's body: Kava Kava, Calamus, Fly Agaric, Pholiotina Mushroom…" She then placed one hand over her mouth, cursing herself for revealing that information to a student.

"Those are all hallucinogens!" Luna concluded with a worried tone.

"Yes, that would have explained the dizziness, twitching, nausea and numbness that Malfoy experienced the first minutes he spent here…but soon after that he started to behave in a completely different way." The nurse frowned.

"What happened?" Luna's pearl grey eyes filled with horror.

"Neurons are the ones that help us think. Most of us can handle a certain percentage of them firing at once without suffering a seizure or an aneurism. Draco Malfoy's brain was literally a firecracker that launched him into an episode of euphoria - or pretty much a state similar to it - as if something had attacked his central nervous system, convulsing his whole body. That could have provoked an irreversible brain damage if I hadn't provided him a sedative charm to slow him down for good." The old woman arched an eyebrow with concern.

Luna was thinking fast, unable to hold up the countless questions that started to fill her skull. "But he'll be all right, won't he?!"

"Yes, leaving aside the fact that his body temperature is still very low due to a powerful and most efficient sedative charm, his body and brain functions are intact." Pomfrey sighed deeply, brushing her hands against her apron.

"But then why is he still unconscious?!" Luna shook her head strongly holding back the tears.

The old woman kept her voice low. "Seems he's taking a much needed rest, let him sleep a bit more, it will help him in his recovery." She then leaned forward and added. "I'd better run a general examination to all those who attended Slughorn's Valentine's Party last night, just to make sure no-one would fall ill like this two."

Madame Pompey then rushed towards the opposite side of the nursery room where Slughorn's bed was placed, and closed the curtains behind her. A strange feeling shook Luna telling her that her potion's professor case was disturbingly serious as well.

With a loud crack, Blaise apparated right beside Luna, his eyes looked puffy for his lack of sleep.

"Lovegood, how's Draco?" He asked, his voice sounded raspy.

"He won't wake up just yet..." She paused, as the lump in her throat got bigger. "…but he'll be okay, he needs to rest."

Luna dried her tears on her uniform sweater's sleeves and looked up, focusing her attention at Blaise's devastated complexion

He looked like he was about to collapse. "Blaise, you've said you were going to refresh yourself and get some sleep, you look really…beaten."

He rubbed his eyes, emptying the air on his lungs all of a sudden. "Sleep?! How can I possibly do that with Draco being in this condition? I simply can't, first I need to know he'll be perfectly okay from whatever food poisoning he suffered from."

"Madame Pomfrey told me that Draco will be fine thanks to the attention she gave him shortly after he was admitted at the infirmary." She then paused and took a step closer, silent tears rolling down her cheeks. "By bringing him here last night you've saved his life. I don't know how I could be able to repay you for what you've done for Draco, for both of us."

"Draco needs someone he can rely on and count with always, someone to be there for him in both good and bad times. Well, I'm that someone, that's what best friends are for." Blaise said without removing his eyes from Draco.

"Please tell me what happened last night." She hissed with a thread of voice.

Blaise stared at Luna, shaking his head with a pissed off look. "You should know _love_, but you weren't there for him and when you did, you haven't even noticed he was feeling shitty and all. If you hadn't run away in first place, he shouldn't be here prostrated in bed! Damn you, stupid selfish girl."

"Blaise, why do you hate me that much?" She asked all of a sudden, holding up her breath in fear.

"Don't get me wrong _love_, you'll have to mean _something_ to me in the first place to feel that way about you. But after seeing Draco in this state, I'll make sure you pay for all the pain you're causing him." Blaise threatened, but something in the drastic change of Luna's facial features made him stop all of the sudden.

"Oh no…" Luna managed to mumble as she felt her wedding ring getting cold as ice and fell from her finger right into the floor.

Right then Draco came awake with a start, he opened both his amethyst blue eyes just enough to let in some light, then blinked and slowly dragged himself to a sitting position. He looked around him, making a fast scan of the place, noticing that he was in bed at the infirmary wing and both Blaise and Luna were standing right beside him.

"Luna..." Draco swallowed hard against the sudden wave of nausea that caused his abrupt awakening.

"YOU!" She said, filling that single word with warning. "What did you do last night?!" The pain in her voice when asking that question was almost too great for her, she wanted to shout from the hurt exploding inside her.

Draco got immediately annoyed with her for acting so careless about his wellbeing that he didn't realized the fact that Luna's ring had just fallen from her finger. "Your _acid drop_ attitude ended up poisoned me, that's exactly what happened, that's why I'm here sick in bed!"

"You perfectly know what I'm talking about!" She didn't even blink, it was as if she was in shock.

"Actually I don't, but I'm glad you stopped by, even if it was because you were hoping to see me dead." He shot back avoiding her harsh gaze.

"Draco, my wedding ring…" She broke off mid-sentence, looking miserably and devastated but only for a second or two, then she looked completely enraged. "The fidelity ring you've gave me just slipped from my finger: you've broken your bows!"

He watched her picking up her pearl eyed serpent ring from the floor with a blank stare.

"Who was she?!" Luna shook her head, slowly so as not to encourage her knotting stomach from untying.

The tone in Luna's voice made the hairs on the back of Draco's neck stand up, he kept his mouth shut and blinked a few times, noticing the tears of rage and frustration in her smoke grey eyes.

"I…" Draco felt his heart rate increase despite himself.

"It was Daphne Greengrass, am I right? I thought that snobbish slippery girl got the message the last time we talked, but I guess I was wrong. Did you sleep with her last night?!" Luna demanded to know, fixing her watery eyes on Draco.

"WHAT?! Hell no!" The blond replied then as he tilted his head to the side and looked at her with a disgusting expression.

Luna then pursed her mouth and crossed her arms, which plumped up her breasts a bit, thing that Blaise didn't even realized but something that Draco definitely did noticed right away.

"Stop lying and give me your ring, you no longer deserve it!" Luna's shout echoed through the silent infirmary room.

Draco knew his face was probably burning red with anger as he replied, also shouting. "Over my dead body!"

"Dammit!" She muttered, as she realized one tear had escaped.

Luna got closer to the bed and slapped Draco hard in the face, leaving bloody trails of her hand imprint across his cheek, in what seemed a fair attempt to dislocate his perfect jaw as she took by the force the ring from his finger.

"Shit..." Draco blinked hard again to clear his blurred vision as the growing pounding inside his skull was definitely building up behind his eyes.

"You cheated on me, you testosterone-pumped heartless monster!" The devastated look on her amethyst blue eyes was heart-breaking.

"ENOUGH!" Blaise roared, stepping into the scene with a crappy look. "Last night someone took advantage of Draco's bad shape, jumped right at him and gave him a long, wet kiss. What did you expect would happen in Valentine's Day with Draco, everybody's hero, all by himself, feeling vulnerable and not exactly in his right mind for he'd been food-poisoned and all?"

"Don't you dare to back up his actions!" Luna yelled.

"Lovegood, can't you realize how many would like to be in your shoes? Still Draco didn't cross any line because no matter what happens he'll be always faithful to you, even if you don't deserve it." Blaise confronted her with a resolved and perfectly calm manner disguising completely his anger.

Sharp pains stabbed her stomach but Luna stood her ground and forced herself not to scream out her rage.

"If you don't believe what I'm saying, cast the Legillimens spell on me and find out for yourself what happened last night". Blaise crossed his arms and looked as cool as possible, as if he had nothing to hide, not even after throwing such a perfectly displayed act for he was the master of lies.

Both Draco and Blaise could feel the anger seeping from beneath her clothing, heating the air around Luna. "Blaise, you've witnessed what happened and didn't do anything to stop it?!"

"Why would I?" Nothing in Blaise's posture betrayed his words, still Luna was finding trouble to buy that story right away.

Dismissing Blaise's speech completely, Draco narrowed his amethyst blue eyes trying to burn a hole right through Luna with his harsh stare. "Go ahead sweetheart, show me how angry you are. Hit me again…HARDER!" He shouted looking deadly serious, encouraging her to snap out. "I'm used to that kind of pain and worse."

"No, that would be pointless. Nothing would ever touch you because you're as cold as ice." She shot back disguising the sadness of her clouded eyes as she made her complaint with trembling lips.

Draco wanted to grab her and shake her and shout that he loved her, but he froze, feeling a burning knot constricting slowly his throat. He looked at her without a single emotion on his face. Cold-blooded? No…it was hundred per cent Draco's intellectual and logic coldness. Underneath it all, it was hurting like hell. He simply couldn't restrain his acerbic sense of humour from surfacing at those moments of greatest stress.

"I'm who I choose to be and you're right…I'm not _good_, I'm simply _great_!" He celebrated with a mocking face, a tint of insanity dancing in his blurred eyes.

"You're incapable of loving anyone but yourself!" Luna shook her head, she could feel the tears starting to form but she didn't let them fall by blinking rapidly as she pulled herself together.

Luna's face burned slightly, but she quickly gained control and shrugged. "Draco, you're nothing but a selfish and lustful bastard!"

"I did not sleep with anyone, okay?! But yes, I've kissed…" The sudden drop in Draco's tone suggested this was something he felt very deeply, and painfully.

Feelings and emotions, those complex reactions the body had whenever something triggers it, Luna felt them making an explosion inside as she locked her smoke eyes on him. "Draco, adversus solem ne loquitor (i)"

It was time for Draco to experience in the flesh a sudden change inside him, he felt how fast his heart began to race as his mouth became drier and his skin turned even paler, if possible, as his muscles contracted. He felt beyond sick as the light in his eyes vanished all of a sudden, he couldn't hold her gaze from much longer, whatever was Luna doing to him during their connection certainly hurt like hell. The moment she realized what was happening to him, Luna broke eye contact immediately.

"I hate myself for loving you once." If she allowed herself the time to think, she would never have said that at all.

Draco closed shut his eyes, feeling a stab of pain across his heart and suppressed an involuntary shiver of nervousness and impotence.

She arched both eyebrows and swallowed the lump inside her throat as something stuck her mind, something that would explain why Draco felt ill. "You realize now that it was because of the binding spell you cast on us that you felt ill and probably stop you from doing something completely degrading to a girl with a stupid crush on you?! Your own dark magic have backfired you! Isn't that ironic?"

He nodded in silence, avoiding her gaze. "The reason I cast the binding spell on both was to protect us and keep us close, even in the hardest times, and let me tell you that it worked just fine!"

"Draco, you could have suffered a brain damage if Blaise hadn't brought you to the infirmary for Poppy to act right away. You could have died!" She opened wide her eyes, feeling constricted her lungs with angst.

Seemed that Draco got the message the other way round, for he shot back with a cold smirk. "No matter how badly you want me dead, I'll never give you that satisfaction neither an easy way out of this!"

When a defining moment comes along, you can do one of two things. Define the moment, or let the moment define you and when Draco finally did look up, he met Luna's shocked gaze.

She shook her head violently. "You can't be serious, just hear yourself talking, you made no sense at all. You're mad."

Draco glanced at her and smirked tiredly, feeling irritated at the tone of her voice. "I'm just as _sane_ as you, sweetheart."

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The stress and fatigue was starting to take down Blaise's body frame as the threatening nasty two days in a row sleep-deprivation headache became more difficult to fight back. The black jet haired man sited on a corner of the bed and stared at Draco with a lost and foggy look. The blond stared back at him, still unable to pronounce a word since Luna left the infirmary so abruptly.

Draco felt his throat all raspy and dry; he then looked questioningly in silence at his friend as he tried to clear his voice and speak.

Blaise held up one hand, stopping his friend from breaking the silence first. "Make a woman jealous and you're half way to get her back. I might have done a false move with the Polyjuice potion, but I get it right when I came across Luna earlier that night and show her how much she means to you."

The blond shook his head twice, piling up a building anger. "And why would you do that for, uhm? Blaise, you never say what you truly believe or think and most of the time you don't even believe what you say! If indeed you wanted to tell the truth for once in your life to Luna you'd probably hide it among so many built-up lies that it would be hard to differ what's real from what you made up inside your head. No wonder she'd refuse to believe anything that comes from you."

Letting go a sad smile the other replied. "Look who's talking! You, me, everybody lies and hides true feelings because complete free expression is a social impossibility. That's why I let her cast the Legilimens spell on me since that's the only source of truth I have left. I still managed you'd look like the helpless and devoted husband you are…very _deep_ inside."

"YOU WHAT?!" Draco cursed under his breath, sinking himself again on the bed, looking even more depressed with the whole situation. "And you encouraged her to do it again just moments ago after lying so plainly to her?!"

"I knew she'd trust me this time after what I showed her last night. And Draco, don't you worry, you don't have to be good all the time, just when it matters." Blaise paused, he had to blink several times and rub madly at his eyes to keep himself awake. "How are you, mate?"

The blond stared at him and frowned. "What kind of bloody question is that?!"

Stifling a yawn, he completed the question. "I mean…your health…do you feel any physical pain?"

"Gravity is starting to feel way too heavy." Draco complained, rubbing his forehead. "Oh Merlin, that old woman really drugged me. No wonder…she always hated me."

Draco was feeling drowsy and weak for Madame Pomfrey's powerful sedative charm was still present in him. He tried to get up from the bed but he couldn't: his legs were still numbed.

"You perfectly know that I despise this place. It reminds me of Luna being sick, dying." Draco said, moving slightly his head from side to side, inspecting the infirmary with a keen eye before resting his judging gaze at Blaise.

"I brought you here because that was the wisest thing to do. Draco, someone had poisoned you! Slughorn got dangerously ill as well, he's sick in bed on the other side of this room, something in the food at the party struck him as well." Blaise replied feeling all of a sudden angry with Draco.

"I knew too much sugar would get me high." He joked but then he held his breath all of a sudden and asked. "Blaise, you didn't eat any piece of a certain lemon pie, did you?"

He stretched from side to side then rubbed his eyes tiredly. "No…why?"

With a relieved yet tired smirk the blond replied. "The Dark Lord is testing me in order to find out what can and can't do."

Blaise looked at his friend and made a funny face. "What are you talking about?"

Draco forced his numbed body up to take sit on the bed, but only managed to sink even deeper in it. "With the inherited powers of the Ghoul, no matter how deadly a poison is I'm almost immune to its effects. Yes, I could get sick at first but after the poison enters my blood, it either vanishes or blends with it. This doesn't make me immortal…like the Dark Lord, but I could certainly get to live longer than the rest."

"I wonder what it'd be like to be you." Blaise smiled vaguely.

Draco just looked at Blaise with a dark stare, his face was completely unreadable. "Even if you'd lose your sanity, your rationality and peace of mind, and let yourself be drowned in your deepest fears…submerged in the worst torments, you'll be miles away from feeling the way I do: this is madness."

Blaise swallowed nervously and dropped his gaze to the floor. He knew Draco wasn't talking about the_ infamous_ rewards of the Inferae's pact but of his agony for not having Luna by his side.

Of course Blaise knew about that kind of ache, he felt it pulling him down every single minute of his life since he met Draco, he knew how it felt to want someone that badly and not being able to have it.

Startled, as if being pulled out of his trance, Draco broke the silence. "The news of my miraculous recovery would be certainly the last thing the Death Eaters expected. I'm surprised their yelling didn't reach my ears so far."

Blaise frowned and got serious. "Wait, you're implying there are Death Eaters stationed here at Hogwarts? How can you know that for sure?"

The blond nodded, looking visible uneasy. "My kind - the Death Eaters – we're nothing but a pack of owned animals marked as equals. In some way or another, we all can _feel_ each other."

The other arched a sceptic eyebrow. "Your _kind_? Draco, you're not a Death Eater and remotely a beast. Probably the majority of our fellow students from the seventh year are, but not you."

Draco then twisted his head around until his neck popped. "You're wrong, I _am_ one: an enraged animal fighting against the idea of getting domesticated by his master but a beast after all. Every single night, since I stepped foot at Hogwarts, I've been this close to get killed, but I survived. They've tried to froze me, drown me, poison me…but I proved to be stronger than the Dark Lord thought. I even amaze and scare myself of the things I can achieve. I can heal faster and poisons are no longer a threat to me. Professor Binns was right: I've got no limits. I wonder what Luna can do too, probably that's why she ran away in the first place: to figure out what was happening to her."

"That girl got issues, _serious_ issues mate." Blaise said staring at the nothingness, as his dark eyes lost focus for a moment of what was in front of him. "So what happened to you really, you fell ill due to that _bond _of yours?"

"I got sick because I almost _cheated_ on Luna. The spell I cast on both of us was the one that made me ill." Draco replied quietly, hating every second of Blaise's questioning, still trying to do his best under the circumstances.

At this Blaise threw a worried gaze at him and leaned closer, fixing his friend's pillow. "Draco, what kind of binding spell you've cast on you and Luna?"

Draco looked thoughtful for a moment then he said. "The most effective one I could think of: in case Luna and I get intimate with other people, we'd pay that treachery with our lives."

Blaise shook his head slowly while he tried to fully understand what Draco had just said. "Why would you do such thing?"

"It was the right thing to do to ensure there would be no cheatings, no back-stabbings, complete surrender and devotion: that's how a perfect marriage should be." Draco closed shut his eyes, remembering the pain and suffering Lucius' love affairs inflicted upon his mother.

"Luna was right then, you could have died!" He crossed his arms, shaking, feeling sick just to think about that possibility.

Draco opened his eyes, there was a vivid shade of pink rage on them as the cold shivers gained intensity along with his nerves. "I could have died if you and I would have exchanged _other_ body fluids apart from _saliva_. But since I've stopped myself before anything happened, that's the only reason why I'm still alive, not because Pomfrey's sedative charm!"

Draco couldn't stifle any longer the sudden and violent urge to throw up, and so he let it all go, creating a revolting mess on the floor. He was more furious than Blaise had ever seen him.

Blaise's heart was in his throat by then just by looking at the blond holding such menacing gaze on him as he cleaned up the sickness from his mouth. If looks could kill, Blaise would have definitely turn into ashes and vanish in thin air right there.

Blaise covered his face between his hands, his voice cracked. "Oh Merlin, why didn't you tell me all this before?!"

"Because I never thought my best friend would pose for my wife using the polyjuice potion to get into my pants, that's why!" Draco shot back with an angry look. "I'm going to use your head as punch bag the moment I regain full control of my body."

"I guess I owe you an apology..." Blaise mumbled, still unable to stop himself from shaking.

"Just one?! I've already warned you not to touch me, not like _that_ ever again! Look what you've made me do!" Draco then dragged his gaze away and stared at the ceiling, avoiding eye contact with Blaise. "But no matter how hard I try, I can't bring myself to hate you despite the fact that I can't stand the sight of you right now. Look, Hogwarts is falling apart, it's not safe. Just go back to the Chateau, the guest room is all yours, do whatever you please."

"That's the sweetest thing you ever said to me. I appreciate your being afraid of my well being." Blaise joked then he took a big breath and continued. "But I'm not like Luna. I simply won't leave you alone, you need someone to stand by you and I'm the one"

The mere idea of putting his friend in risk sent Draco's mind reeling in anger. "Blaise, you don't understand. We're talking about putting your life at risk for nothing!"

"FOR NOTHING?!" Blaise roared, realizing how strangely warm his angry face felt. "The problem here is that you're used to see people walking away from you just when you need them most. I'm different from the rest and if I chose to stick beside you is because I want to and nothing you say would change my mind."

Draco turned around again, shooting Blaise a disgusted look. "Stubborn git."

"You can't change a person without destroying what he is in the process." The other shrugged.

"That's true." The blond hissed as he closed his eyes for a brief moment.

Blaise blinked, shaking himself awake again and looked at his friend. "See? I knew you'd understand me."

Draco frowned, wondering if his thoughts were as clear as they should be. "Sometimes I found it a very tough job trying to understand your train of thinking without getting angry."

A strange light enlightened Blaise's dark eyes. "Would that be because we're alike in so many aspects that it scares you? And when we're focused in our pursue nothing in the way could possible detour us?"

Draco froze, deep in thought. There was nothing he hated more than someone using his own words against him. "That's the root of the problem: in order to get what you want from me, I'd have to change the way I am and I simply can't. Damnit, I can't even be the man Luna wants me to be!"

"You still don't get it, do you? Haven't you've just heard what I said before? I'd never ask you to change the way you are because that's exactly what I love about you: your strength and weaknesses, your determination and contradictions, your certainties and doubts. I accept and understand who you are. Can't you see that what I feel for you is not limited to the craving of your god-like body? I'm not saying that I'm made of stone, because I can't deny that my blood burns when I'm close to you but you're the testosterone pumped blond git, not me. I think with my head, this one." Blaise said pointing at his skull and laughed with everything but his eyes for they were tainted with sadness but he then got deadly serious. "If Luna doesn't accept you the way you are is because she doesn't truly love you."

For a beat, Draco didn't know quite how to react and held everything back, tight lipped. He then shook his head in disbelief, trying to clear his mind, but his pounding headache still persisted.

Looking as dark and dangerous as ever, Blaise broke the silent. "I'd have offered myself to kill Luna if I knew you really meant that. You just have to say the word and I'll do it."

Draco narrowed his amethyst blue eyes and shot a piercing look at Blaise. "I must admit that the food poison did get me somehow to come up with such idea. Still I'd never let others do things I'd rather do myself."

"Whatever, just bear in mind that you'll always count with a Plan B." He said dangerously determined.

"And what would that be exactly?" Draco demanded to know raising both eyebrows this time.

Blaise's reply came right after he finished yawning. "Well, it stands for _Plan Blaise_…it could mean a lot of things, depends on the situation."

The blond limited to smirk tightly and rolled his eyes. "Just promise me you won't kill Luna, no matter what."

But Blaise wasn't listening anymore, he yawned a couple of times more before entering in a funny state of trance, as dark spots started to appear from the corner of his eyes and collapsed on the bed, right on top of Draco.

"Blaise, what the heck? Wake up!" Draco protested feeling helplessly trapped under the weight of his best friend's strong and toned body as he tried to summon his wand from the cloak that hanged over the chair in front of him with no luck whatsoever.

"Uhmmm…five more minutes mom." Blaise tossed out with his eyes closed shut as he cuddled against Draco's body, making himself cosy.

"What's going on in here?!" Pompfrey demanded to know with a shocked face, she almost dropped the food plate she was carrying for Draco.

She placed a hand over her mouth and close it shut as her eyes looked at the scene in front of her: an athletic built black jet haired young man was fast asleep almost drooling all over the bed sheets on top of a fragile and half-conscious blond Slytherin crushed behind.

Draco spun his head towards her and chocked one word out with the last remaining strength in him. "Help?"

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A/N

(i) Adversus solem ne loquitor (Latin)- Don't speak against the sun (don't waste your time arguing the obvious).

Blaise will protect Draco at all cost, no matter if we're talking about Luna, but he'd never contradict Draco's wishes either (so this is going to be more complicated than expected).

Oi people! Remember to keep an avid eye for those tiny details and info that's revealed in each chapter.

Past, present and future will collide soon and the final result would be chaotic. Once the truth is revealed, events will snowball beyond your control my dearest Draco. I'm sorry...so sorry...or maybe not! :evil smirk:

Divinne


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N:**

My oh my…

Depending on the eye of the beholder, the pieces are slowly finding their own way to assemble one with the other, but they also can be just falling apart even more.

That's the law of opposites my dear reader: everything has its opposite, and that's what gives us balance.

It's challenging and at the same time difficult to make justice when we're talking about Snape's character, but I hope I did a good job in this chapter (17th) and in the future ones, because he's going to go through a lot…a _lot_ indeed.

Let me warn you people, what it's written in this fiction is my humble (and twisted) point of view of all of the masterpieces created by J.K Rowling, and (in not so my humble opinion and weirder also) I'd like them better _my_ way. What you read is what I wish it would have happened (not from scratch, but certainly in book 6th and 7th ) specially how I pictured Draco :smirks:

I've received an email from a subscriber, (again why didn't you just drop a review instead?), asking me if I had some kind of antipathy for Harry Potter character for not including him more in my fiction. Weird as it might sound (or maybe not so) I love to hate Harry and on the other hand I simply adore Draco (100 per cent, cross my heart, hope I die). In my delusion I guess I stand by my dearest blond Slytherin side unconditionally and you'll see in the future chapters when Draco cross his path again with Harry (yes, Harry will appear in future chapters, duh) the way the silvery blond will deal with the situation would explain my point of view of the raven haired Gryffindor and the highlights of their rivalry, okay? Also, to settle the record straight, this fiction revolves around Draco, and the Slytherin is not the one obsessed with the Gryffindor, it's the other way round, Draco just hates Harry's guts, period, and he won't waste his time dealing with Harry that much but since he is his #1 enemy, he'll have to do it eventually...but not constantly. So I hope that answer satisfies your curiosity, if not just keep reading and you'll hit the jackpot in no time.

Thanks again for reading and for subscribing or/and adding this fic to your faves. It would be great if you can leave a review also with your comments, questions, doubts, etc :coughs:

Enjoy!

Divinne

**CHAPTER XVII**

"_I sit here all alone and try to find the words that I can't say…  
Now there's nothing left that we can fall back on._

_I know that I'm much too selfish but I can't, I can't help this  
Nobody knows what I've done, what doesn't kill us makes us strong._

_Where did I go wrong? I don't know…I gotta leave and take what's mine  
Wasted youth and wasted time, call these words into my stains so it will show."_

_(ADEMA - "What Doesn't Kill Us")_

Moments after resolving to discharge himself, against Madame Pomfrey's advice, Draco could still hear her yelling coming from the infirmary's wing calling out his name. He stopped and looked back down the long corridor he'd just walked after leaning against the wall. The nurse's cold ice calming charm was slowly fading and he was starting to feel a most welcomed warmth flowing through his frozen and numbed humanity.

His legs still felt like dead weights, his heart was pounding in his chest from the effort, raising drastically his body temperature. Draco wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and bent over slightly as those infamous images of the previous night's events with the fake Luna flashed inside his head, haunting him. He'd never felt so unclean, angry and annoyed with himself all at once.

_"I need a damn shower." _He thought, welcoming the idea of such comforting treat.

Draco took a deep breath and let it out slowly, after a few more deep controlled breaths, he started to feel focused and in balance, feeling a rush of strength flowing through his stressed out body. When he looked up, he caught sight of someone who grabbed his sudden and complete attention: it was that silk bond haired boy from 2nd year, Ravenclaw's House, and he was talking with his classmate, a red-haired girl about his age.

She looked visible uneasy as she spoke with a soft hiss clenching some gilt cord from her neck. "We can't continue to come here. This thingy isn't working acutely, remember?"

The boy took a big breath and crossed his arms. "I know perfectly how that _thingy_ works. I was the one who fixed it, and for your information it works perfect. Can't you see that I'm learning a lot in the process? It's amazing to be in the exact place and time where it all started."

"And ended." She shook her head, looking more worried than before. "Are you sure it was the wisest thing to do? Do you think he'd agreed with your doing _that_ for him?"

What followed mesmerized Draco in an odd way when he heard the boy speaking his next words. "Heroes are doomed to suffer, greatly. But I don't want him to suffer. He deserves to have it all, so why don't give him everything he wants?"

Draco noticed that there was a heavy and marked German accent in his voice.

"You're scary when you speak like that." She said, biting her lip.

Tilting his head to the side the boy replied in a razor-blade sharp way. "That's because sometimes you forgot with whom you're talking to."

"You're right, with those fake blue eyes and dressed in Ravenclaw's uniform you do look like a complete different person." The girl swallowed hard and fixed her gaze on the floor.

"Ich bin Der Wolf im Schafspelz, richtig?(i)" He leaned closer, and added. "I'm ashamed of having to hide who I truly am, but I had no choice, he would have recognized me immediately otherwise."

Letting go a sound sigh, she asked. "What if things end up complicating even more?"

Combing his silk blond hair back, the boy tossed out. "I doubt it, you don't know him the way I do. Besides, you can even end up profiting from it too."

"How considerate." She chuckled nervously despite herself. "You're doing this to get rid of me, right?"

"Never thought I could be _that _obvious." He replied mockingly shutting her up with a sour look.

Draco felt the urge to go and talk with those kids, specialy with that stricking boy. He straightened up and looked at the floor, judging the distance between those kids and him. After making the conclusion he'll make it to the other side without much trouble he pulled himself from the wall, slowly making his way towards them when he suddenly bumped into Severus Snape.

Before Draco could open his mouth, Snape held up a hand to silence him. "Not here, come to my office."

The blond frowned and looked behind his back, noticing that a growing number of students were peeking from the corner of the corridor at the two all-black dressed figures with curious and judging eyes. Once Draco turned round he noticed that the couple of Ravenclaws were gone, rubbing his forehead nervously he tried to remember why we wanted to approach them in the first place, his mind was a complete mess.

The doors opened and Snape stepped inside, followed closely by Draco. Aware of the fatigue still draining his mind and body and noticing that his legs were still not strong enough, the blond didn't think twice and threw himself on the small couch displayed on front of his professor's desk.

After clearing his throat, the elder spoke first. "Nobody must know that professor Slughorn has been poisoned or things would get chaotic with the students' families."

Draco looked like he was about to jump out of his skin, still he perfectly managed to fight the sudden anger rush while clenching both hands on the arms rests of the couch. "Is this one of Dumbledore's _clever _ideas? If he hides the truth and pretends everything's okay he'll end up jeopardizing the life of thousands."

Snape didn't blink and looked straight into his student's eyes. "There are very few men, and they are the exceptions, who are able to think and feel beyond the present moment. I thought the only person you care here at Hogwarts was your wife."

"This means that I'm still able to surprise you, Sir?" Draco said holding back an ironic smirk from surfacing.

"You'd never cease to amaze me." Snape just stared at the blond with an amused stare before shaking his head twice.

"_Good." _Draco said to himself and then he shot back. "So…what happens now?"

"I'm afraid we all have to follow Dumbledore's orders." Was Snape's short and to the point answer.

Draco bent his head down and rubbed the stiffness on the back of his neck as he munched the words before he spoke them out loud. "Hogwarts needs a _real _Headmaster, someone worthy of the post, not this incompetent old crazy man who's playing to be one."

Snape didn't reply right away, but when he did, he sounded irritated. "You don't know what you're talking about."

The blond looked up, his eyes remained narrowed. "You know I do. You are the man this school needs. Trouble is that your loyalty for Dumbledore blinds you from seeing it. Yet."

Snape didn't reply, and his silence wasn't exactly what Draco would have expected coming from his Head of House.

Coughing quietly, Draco asked casually, changing the subject completely. "How's professor Slughorn doing?"

Snape swallowed uncomfortably staring at the nothingness. "He's in a delicate and most critical condition. He's been taken to St. Mungo's Hospital."

The Slytherin prefect opened wide his blue amethyst eyes and didn't blink. "That bad, uh?"

Snape threw and incredulous stare at the blond. "Not many count with your unique _healing _abilities Malfoy. Considering what had just happened, you look…." But he stopped pacing abruptly mere inches from the blond and pursed his lips as he examined Draco with a concerned look.

Draco rolled his eyes and turned his head to a side, catching his reflection on a beveled crystal display cabinet filled with taxidermy stuffed creatures and potions. He'd probably looked better than before, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't even close to be fine either.

"What doesn't kill you..." He started but stopped mid-sentence as his train of thought turned into a complete different angle. "Is there a chance Slughorn might recover?"

Shaking his head violently, Snape frowned. "No, I don't think so. He'd leave the hospital either in a coffin or…an urn."

"_And along with him will die those stupid anger management lessons. That old man knew too much about me already. I guess I did profit from this unfortunate incident after all." _Draco said to himself and looked up, seemed that Snape was deep in thought too, probably thinking that old fat man was never good enough to be in charge of Potions in the fist place.

"Who else got poisoned at the party?" The blond asked truly curious crossing his fingers on his back, hoping a Gryffindor would follow such fatal destiny.

"Unfortunately just the two of you." Snape's lips curled into a tragic sad smile and shrugged, trying to shake such painful sensation.

The sarcasm in his Head of House almost made Draco laugh inside. But Snape's superficial coldness then blended with stricken grief: looked like he was indeed worried about Draco's wellbeing.

Draco sighed and rolled his eyes dramatically. "Perfect, I've become the Dark Lord's damn guinea pig. How many tests do I have to endure before he gets bored with me?"

"I believe He won't waste more time with that." Snape paused then shook his head, resting his hands over the desk, feeling his stomach revolting. "You've proved yourself worthy to become His new _pet_ now."

Draco smirked tiredly, rubbing the cold sweat from his forehead. "I might be an animal, a beast, even a monster but I'm definitely nobody's _pet_."

Holding up an accusing finger, the other shot back. "You'd have thought twice before killing Nagini. You knew there would be consequences...you've even devour the Dark Lord's flesh!"

The blond leaned back on his seat and closed his eyes for a brief moment. "I was starving."

Snape's silent reply came in the form of a concerned and dark frown, confirming the fact that is was a serious matter and not something to take slightly like Draco was doing at the moment.

"That poison was carefully chosen in order to push me into doing a series of thingsin such rush of blind hatred, it awoke a part of me that I can't deny or hide anymore." Draco ruminated inside his head the fact that the drug was never meant to kill him, but to unleash his fury putting an end with someone else's life: Luna.

"What _things_?" He arched an eyebrow, hardly looking intrigued for he already suspected Draco's answer.

"Committing murder." Draco paused, swallowing painfully "Opening the possibilities to contemplate suicide as well." He remembered how much he wanted Luna dead along with the desire to put an end with his own life after that.

"In order to overcome something, you have to understand what it is first. That's how you fight a disease. You've proved that you can control and tame your killing instincts." Snape paused and looked at his student suspiciously. "Right?"

Draco shook violently his head and looked up, an evil smirk curling his pale lips. "No, I can't. I've just happened to switch targets."

Snape crossed his arms and rested against the desk, tilting his head to a side, with a worried frown.

"This all confirms that the Dark Lord already knows about me and Luna." The blond looked at his bare finger, starting to miss how it felt to have the weight of his wedding ring around it.

Closing his hand with resentment Draco looked up at the silent figure in front of him, seemed that Snape's complexion turned even whiter.

Those pair of pitch black eyes looked at his student deadly serious, but his grin and slight mocking laugh betrayed him. "Well, it was a matter of time before He joined the dots, don't you think? She's become an obstacle in His way to get to you. Now you've got to talk to your wife and really _listen_ to her."

"I don't know how that could be possible. Luna came up with some sort of psychic self-defence mechanism that put an end to our connection." Draco then broke the eye contact and narrowed his eyelids, staring at the floor. "Nothing feels right anymore. I'm starting to believe what Luna and I share is deeply rooted with Ancient Dark Magic."

Snape took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Like every source of devastating power, its origin is disturbingly questionable."

Draco forced himself to blink, but still didn't want to look up. "Is what Luna and I feel for each other some sort of curse?"

He stood beside his desk, watching the blond Slytherin with a cold stare. "Of course."

Draco's heart threatened to stop beating right then as his pupils dilated completely. He looked like he just forgot to breathe or couldn't quite bring himself into filling his lungs with air properly. His mouth opened as if to scream but Snape spoke again.

"Love _is_ a curse." The elder Slytherin's voice was dripping with sarcasm.

He stared back at his Head of House, impassively. "What is it that you're not telling me, Sir?"

The man inhaled sharply. "I can't tell you what I don't know."

Draco stared closely at Snape's pupils and how they suddenly swelled. "You're lying."

Snape arched an eyebrow and replied tonelessly. "Maybe I am, but I'd never jump into a conclusion with no facts to fall back on." With a sound sigh, he asked. "You told me Lovegood is rejecting you, how? What do you feel or experience when you two _connect_?"

Draco looked perplexed, as if he should have been able to answer the question right away but couldn't quite do that. Snape's piercing questioning made him sort things out fast inside his head, trying to explain them the best he could.

"Her voice and the way it resounds in my head it's distorted and there is a reverb effect behind it. It's like something behind is delivering other words and I get all these nasty headaches and dizziness." Draco paused and closed his eyes, leaning against the head rest of the couch, feeling all of a sudden angry with Luna.

Snape blinked twice, looking shocked as the idea of Luna's possible pregnancy struck him. It was just a possibility, one of many.

He then shook his head as he walked towards Draco, clenching his hands on the armrests of the couch. "Akasha's Inbolc." He spoke those words out loud without even realising.

The blonde's amethyst blue eyes opened wide open as he leaned forward. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

Grabbing Draco by the shoulders, shaking him, Snape shouted. "How could you been so careless?! You two are way too young for that kind of responsibilities and the time couldn't be worse!"

Draco felt dramatically constricted his lungs as he tried to figure out the meaning of Snape's warning inside the back of his head. "Wait…what _responsibilities_, what are you talking about Sir?"

Snape held up a hand to silence him, still looking angry. "I'm not the one who should tell you, ask your wife."

Draco's pupils dilated, his heart was racing in his chest as he found himself evaluating quite a lot of things inside his mind. "I'm always responsible and meticulous, planning ahead my moves for I hate confronting surprises and that's not an exception when it comes to Luna."

The black jet haired man shook his head and straightened up, crossing his arms. "Are you sure about that?"

Draco adjusted his breathing and replied with confidence. "Yes."

Snape let go a soundly sight, he looked somewhat relieved to hear that. "Then you shouldn't worry but still you'd master those unseen waves of energy between you and Lovegood in order to understand and translate her _message_. Energy tends to materialize into tangible form, learn to see it in your mind's eye, and you'll find out what she's trying to show you."

The blond looked up, a vein was visible throbbing in his temple. "Each time she does that, she pushes herself more and more far away from me. One more push and she'll definitely be out of reach. I should let her do it, she despises me and lately I'm finding hard not to hate her as well."

"Don't let your stubbornness step between you and the woman you love, you'll regret that the rest of your life." Snape then pursed his lips after revealing more than he even wanted to admit.

Draco crossed his arms against his chest and arched an amused eyebrow. He wasn't sure if Snape's words were supposed to be an advice directed to him or something else for it sounded more like a confession, like a false move made in a moment of weakness. As if suddenly the conversation turned around another woman rather than Luna.

"Looks like you're talking from experience." He stared at his Head of House with a smirk curling his pale lips and added. "I'm lost. Whom are we talking about here?"

With one deep and sound breath, Snape turned round to confront his student dragging his words with a paused and annoyed tone. "Mind your tongue."

After one soft knock, the door opened wide and let room for Minerva McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor, to step inside.

"Severus, we're in deep trouble!" She rushed the words out before repairing her eyes on Draco's presence.

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Snape cleared his throat quietly, following with his black-ink cold eyes at the woman dressed in dark green pacing up and down his office with arms clenched on her hips. Her gaze was still glued on the floor. She looked like she wanted to argue his point, but her facial expression suggested otherwise. McGonagall knew that in theory it could be completely wrong, oh yes…she perfectly knew that but then why was she having second thoughts?

It took effort, but she forced herself to break that endless reigning silence between them. "Your proposition is out of the question. I was counting that you'd volunteer to take over Potion's classes, for old time's sake."

Snape rubbed his chin as he considered the possibility but then he shook violently his head. "No."

"Severus, you can't expect him to teach."

But McGonagall's protest wasn't as passionately delivered as her words suggested, making way for him to back up his proposal even more.

He shook his head slowly, narrowing his eyes. "Why not? He's an intelligent young man, a remarkable potion brewer and a keen alchemist. He's even ahead of the best from 7th year!"

"That's unacceptable, a 6th year student imparting classes?!" She shot back raising both arms on the air with frustration.

"He's not _any_ student, he's Draco Malfoy."

But Snape's immediate reply only fueled her stream of conscience.

"Exactly! All the members of his family have been followers of _You Know Who_ since the very beginning. He can't change who he is: a Death Eater, just like his father!"

He felt tired suddenly; the conversation was starting to trim his patience. "No he is not.He chose a path of his own."

"He doesn't commit to any side or cause but himself and…" She shot back.

"…and his path happens to be surprisingly aligned with the interests of the Order and Dumbledore. Giving us some sort of _hope,_ don't you think Minerva?" He finished the sentence with clenched teeth.

She frowned, taking a deep sound breath. "A false image of hope I dare say! He's not like Potter! There is no point of comparison between the two."

Snape rolled his pitch-black eyes and forced a smirk. "Of course not, Malfoy is a _man_ and Potter is just a _boy._"

"You perfectly know that Potter and Dumbledore are….."

This time it was him who abruptly cut her mid-sentence and finished it for her.

"…completely wasting theirs and our time while Malfoy saved the lives of members of the Order of the Phoenix. Potter is so far the only responsible for the death of Sirius Black, his own godfather."

She seemed to be growing agitated. "Would you trust Malfoy with such important task?"

"I'd trust Malfoy with my life." He didn't blink, not once and he never looked more serious.

McGonagall sighed, trying to relax. "Severus, you can't expect me to share your blind faith in him."

"I never said that, did I?" He replied with a tint of irony in his voice.

"You care about him as if he were your son." She said opening wide her eyes, holding her breath.

He turned his back at her, shivering, but the heavy cloak he was wearing prevented it from noticing. "I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to guide and help Malfoy, watching him grow into the man he's now...and, yes, I'm proud of him like any father would be, but I haven't been that _blessed_ in my life."

McGonagall tried to step closer, but her feet wouldn't move. The uncomfortable silence between the two was starting to distress her, she then managed to reach out slowly with one hand, brushing barely his shoulder and when he turned to face her again his complexion was as cold and controlled as ever.

"So you're implying that Draco Malfoy passes for Horace with a polyjuice potion? Some already know that he's confined at St. Mungo's. We can't stop the gossiping from spreading."

"Yes, but nobody knows how seriously sick he is." Snape scratched his chin looking remotely worried. "Nevermind, we'll figure out some other way to disguise Malfoy's identity."

Just when he thought she was beginning to share his point of view, she looked as if she was trying with all her might to find another reason to disagree. "Did you happen to pause and think what would Dumbledore said about all this?"

He leaned over his desk, pocketing his hands inside the cloak. "He's not here, is he?! We've got to take care of this matter ourselves before he returns to the Castle."

"Oh Severus, this is wrong…so wrong." She bit her lip.

Snape wished that the silence charm he cast earlier would have successfully prevented Draco from listening to the whole conversation as he broke the spell and called his name out loud from the other side of the room. "Malfoy, you can come in now."

"Sir?" He appeared from behind McGonagall with a small, sardonic smirk.

"What do you say to the idea of you imparting Potions classes until we find a permanent replacement for professor Slughorn?" Snape asked with an unusual soft tone in his voice.

"Who…me?!" Draco had wanted his voice to be louder, but his tiredness wasn't shaken completely from his body just yet.

"Yes, you're the only one who qualifies for such important task, what would be your answer?" Snape asked, crossing his arms.

Draco's face feigned surprise and discomfort, but the fact is that he truly hated the idea.

"This is just crazy." McGonagall rushed with a frown.

The blond swallowed hard, being dragged all the sudden by his ego that avoided him to retreat from such petition. "How am I supposed to do that and attend to my own classes at the same time?"

"Easy, you'll use that." Snape pointed at McGonagall's small golden pendant-hourglass hanging from her neck.

Draco took a couple of steps, wanting to get a better view of it as the old woman chuckle a silent distress with his closeness.

"Can I take a closer look at it professor?" The Slytherin prefect asked courteously as McGonagall unfastened the clip and held it on her palm, still refusing to let go of it that easy.

Leaning closer, Draco examined the jewel; it didn't take him but an instant to figure it out what it was. Still he wasn't quite sure though it was the real thing, but it was pretty evident he knew how it worked if it was what he already suspected.

"Is that a Time Turner?" He asked serious, hiding perfectly his overwhelming enthusiasm.

"Indeed Mr. Malfoy." She frowned and reluctantly handled it to Draco so that he could inspect it properly.

Draco held it in his hand and started to read to himself the letters engraved on each of the double rings around the hourglass. _"I mark the hours, every one, nor have yet outrun the sun. My use and value unto you are gauged by what you have to do."_

"Do you accept the challenge then?" Snape asked arching an eyebrow.

Flashing a winning smirk the blond said. "Okay, I'll do it."

"Yes!" Snape celebrated with a tight yet controlled shade of a smile.

"Merlin no!" Shouted McGonagall feeling infuriated all of a sudden.

"I know exactly how to disguise myself, nobody would know it's me. I'll fill whatever class you've put me. I can even handle the first year students, no matter how annoyingly clueless they are. But I simply refuse to impart a class to any Gryffindor. That's my condition, take it or leave it." There was a mischievous glint in his amethyst blue eyes.

"Sounds fair to me..." The elder Slytherin said shaking Draco's hand with a tight shake.

Draco shrugged both shoulders, doubting for a split second that could be that easy as he held high the hourglass by the chain.

But right then McGonagall grabbed the golden Time Turner with a tight grip. "No, you won't use it. We'll figure out a way for you to impart lessons during your free periods."

Snape gave her a look of evident discomfort, but didn't say a word.

"Why?" Draco paused, he knew what was coming. "You don't trust me with it, am I correct?"

"You're correct Mr Malfoy." She said, smiling to herself.

Draco's unblinking eyes stared back at her. He then smirked, heading towards the door but he then turned suddenly and said "Then the deal is off, find someone else to fill the Potion Master's post."

McGonagall took a long, deep breath and lowered her gaze, somehow relieved to hear Draco's refusal.

"Malfoy!" Snape hurried to the side entrance, but Draco was gone.

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**A/N: **(i)Ich bin Der Wolf im Schafspelz, richtig? (German Language - _idiom._): I'm a wolf in sheep's clothing, right?


	18. Chapter 18

CHAPTER XVIII

**CHAPTER XVIII**

"_Ladies and gentlemen please, would you bring your attention to me?  
For a feast for your eyes to see, an explosion of catastrophe.  
Like nothing you've ever seen before. Watch closely as I open this door  
Your jaws will be on the floor, after this you'll be begging for more._

_Ladies and gentlemen good evening, you've seen that seeing is believing.  
Your ears and your eyes will be bleeding, please check to see if you're still breathing.  
Hold tight cause the show is not over, if you will please move in closer  
You're about to be bowled over by the wonders you're about to behold here…"_

_(SALIVA – "Ladies and Gentlemen")_

With one hand Draco quickly brushed back his silk blond hair that was still damp from the shower. He then extracted a small notepad out of his backpack's pocket finishing a few notes before stuffing it back. He raised his head and that was when he noticed her, coming his way.

Luna blew her dirty blonde curls from her pale grey eyes and felt her heart missed a beat as she stared at him walking by without stopping. He looked up and smirked softly, his paces were slow and calm along with the smooth and soft movements of his slender body frame. What a treat to the eyes to contemplate that gorgeous pure blood Slytherin pacing the floor with such unique and splendid grace.

The Ravenclaw's girl turned her head round like a drawn magnet and followed him until he disappeared in the hall's corridor before she entered the classroom. She took sit on her place: at the fourth row, the last desk on the right of the classroom. She looked at the students that were there, none of them that he had been really close to, not because she didn't want to, but because they'd never grant her the chance to even know her, not even a little. When she looked at them again, some made eye contact with her, and others didn't even bother giving her a second glance. Luna felt frustrated, but still didn't show any feelings for she just shrugged them off, she was wearing her protective armour well.

She grabbed her backpack, placed it on her lap and opened it up removing her textbooks, parchments, potions kit, ink and a quill. She then gazed over at the clock up at the front of the classroom, and realized she still had five minutes remaining until the class began. As she continued to gaze at the clock, which seemed like its hands were never going to move, the door abruptly opened and someone popped up from it.

Luna could smell him before she saw him; she breathed in the scent of his expensive cologne. She turned round and saw a man in his mid thirties, tall, well-dressed, slim, incredible good-looking and too confident for his own good entering the classroom. He paced the floor with bewitching magnificence: he was the walking dream of a man.

The moment that splendid specimen stepped inside the classroom every emotion was instantly erased from his pale gorgeous face. He flipped slowly through the faces of the 5th year Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students, drinking in the details of each. Once he got closer to his desk, he threw his black leather coat and scarf over it and turned to face the students, inspecting closely at each one of them through his burgundy colour glasses.

He was wearing an unbuttoned dark red shirt that clung from his sharp shoulder blades loosely over his chest, revealing underneath a tight black t-shirt that framed perfectly his tight and lean body. The pair of black pants he was wearing, well…they fit like a second skin on those exquisitely well-toned legs.

"Liam A. McFodaroy." He traced his name with his wand in the air for everybody to see.

After resting that hand on his hip he scratched his goatee with the other, looked like the careful cut facial hair of that angular jaw was somehow bothering him and then he spoke. "I'll be in charge of this class. Address me only as Sir or Mr. McFodaroy. If you happen to call me _professor _or _teacher_, I'll take that as an offence to my person. I'm nobody's employee and I'm the one doing you a favour here, not the other way round. Am I clear enough?"

Not a single soul dared to contradict him, or even breathe for that matter, as dozens of eyes got immediately hypnotized with the enigmatic male figure in front of them.

A Ravenclaw's red-haired boy tilted his head to one side as he continued to look up at the man and bravely broke the reigning silence. "Sir, what happened to professor Slughorn?"

"He's sick and the reason of his illness had been silenced by order of your Headmaster." He paused, running his fingers through his shoulder length brunette hair and sighed soundly. "He wants to keep you all completely clueless regarding the events that are taking place here at Hogwarts. I'd suggest you write to your parents demanding a re-evaluation of Dumbledore's fragile state of mind or you all would pay the price for his actions."

A Hufflepuff girl of curious glittering green eyes coughed, evidently shocked by the news and asked with a thread of voice. "So you're our new Potion Master then, Mr. McFodaroy?"

His eyebrows raised and then lowered a bit as he took sit behind the desk. "Actually, I'm an alchemist but I'm more than qualified for the post, yes."

"Sir, after what you've said is happening here in this school, what made you fill in for the post?" A boy sitting on the very back of the room tossed out.

"To make the story short, someone I'm fond of - and happens to be one of Hogwarts' Head of House - came to me with the proposal and I accepted." He replied as he adjusted his glasses once more. "I'm just repaying a favour, after all I've studied in this school too, I was…."

"…a Slytherin." Luna finished his sentence without realizing she spoke those words out loud as she continued gazing in those mysterious eyes hidden behind the glasses with deep interest.

"Indeed, what other House would be worthy of a man of my sort?" He lowered his eyes and searched through his desk, looking for the student's lists, finding only the one of Hufflepuff.

"Uhm…looks that professor Flitwick failed to give me the list with the student names and their assigned seats. Can you tell me your name, Miss?"

She swallowed a bit uneasy. "I'm Luna, Luna Lovegood."

His pupils widen a little, but he quickly darted to look somewhere else for a moment, and then lock back his gaze on her again. "Seems that you're quite intuitive creature, aren't you Miss Lovegood?"

His stare made Luna feel really nervous leaving her no choice but to break eye contact immediately.

"Is there a Mrs McFodaroy?" An ink-black haired girl from Ravenclaw flashed him a curious look.

The man stared at the ceiling for an eternal moment, his eyes fluttered momentarily. "Not anymore, my mother…she's dead."

The girl's cheeks blushed even more, she seemed to have just one idea inside her mind at that moment. She looked determined. "So you're not married, Sir?"

The muscle in his jaw clenched as he stifled the cracking in his voice. "Darling, do I look like the marrying kind to you?"

He then shook his head violently, lifting himself from his sit and walked to the blackboard with a very pissed off look as the volume of the murmurs started to rise dramatically. "Enough, this is not a tea party!"

Liam turned round and started to scribble something on the board with a graceful flick of his wand. Luna noticed that there was some sort of nervous energy swirling around in her head as she remained sit there, unable to remove her pearl eyes from that man. Her cheeks heated, and she realized her gaze had rested on his bum, that very firm and finely shaped bum of his.

"In alchemy everything is composed of three parts: _Sulphur_ is the soul, _Mercury_ is the life force and _Salt_ is the physical body. When the elements are thus separated, they may afterwards be purified and attenuated. Preparation is the key to success in alchemical work. Preparation of the materials needed, of the working place, and above all, of the attitude of the worker." He talked in a calm, smooth tone, evidently liking the sound of his own voice at that moment, so confident…almost arrogant and very, very sexy.

He then turned round to face his students as he crossed his arms and leaned over the desk. "If you have already displayed on your desks the items listed on the board, then you're set. But if that's not the case I'd suggest you leave the classroom and don't waist my time. You're fifth year students and therefore intolerable at this stage if you don't have the equipment ready to start the class."

The whole class remained silent and no-one moved from their sits as countless pair of eyes remained glued to that exquisite male silhouette pacing back and forth with feline elegant moves.

"Very well then, get yourself ready to prepare the Ageing Potion." He looked directly at Luna, serious yet with a slight smirk but then his amusement dropped right of his face as he looked over her shoulder, catching a couple of boys teasing her from behind.

"What is learning? It's paying attention!" Liam munched the words as he walked towards the two brats and stamped his fist on the boys' desk. "Listening is very inexpensive; not listening could be very costly! Ten points will be taken from Hufflepuff for lack of attention in class."

He then stared at Luna, she looked visible mortified with the whole scene. Once she looked up and met his gaze her mind went blank. She didn't know why but she was mesmerized with the expression on his face when he looked at her, his silent, comforting and reassuring look melted her completely.

"Twelve materials are needed in the brewing of this potion. I've already provided you the first half: Black Lotus, Stonewater, Mana Thistle, Netherbloom, Lionfish spine and Black Beetle Eyes. Could you tell me the remaining six, Miss Lovegood?"

"I…yes…wild garlic…uhmmm." Luna realised she was rambling. Why was that man making her so nervous? She rubbed her forehead, slightly embarrassed as she started to hear the humming of laughter from the rest of the students.

"I demand order in this class!" Liam roared and the reigning laughter died away almost instantly. "Do continue Miss Lovegood."

"Wild Garlic, Blood of Hyrax-Rock, Scorpion-Tail, Mulberry Milk, Dung-Beetle Egg and Earth-Apple." She said quickly, fighting the hot blush on her cheeks as she stared at the ground.

His pale lips curled with an approving smirk as he headed toward the opposite side of the classroom. "Perfect, ten points to Ravenclaw."

Pointing at the now filled with instructions blackboard he spoke again. "Before engaging in the potion outlined there, read and re-read the materials you'll need several times with a notebook or parchment nearby. Outline the steps in each technique, and place them on the front page of your notebook. When brewing the potion, pay attention to your text book and your notes as well. Write down each step as you take it: write down what you do, as you do it, so that later on, if you decide to do more complex potions, the required safety and notation habits will have already been formed." There was a hidden melody in the tone of his voice as if he was in a state of trance while speaking, denoting his rooted knowledge and love for the subject.

The slender male figure passed through the desks inspecting what the students were doing as a great variety of colourful fuming and emanations kept coming out from their cauldrons.

Raising his voice once more, he asked. "Can someone tell me the difference between dispoliaration and divapouration?"

Rolling his eyes, Liam sighed at the dead silence and shrugged. "Wake up people."

Right then only one hand lifted shyly but confident on the air, it was Luna.

"Kindly instruct the clueless minds of your classmates, Miss Lovegood." He said flashing a mocking smirk.

"_Dispoliaration _is the dissolving or transforming of a dead substance into a liquid. _Divapouration _is the exhalation of dry vapours from a substance, which can occur at different degrees of heat." Something clicked in her mind as soon as she spoke the words making her feel an urge to smile.

"At least one student is taking advantage of what it's taught in this school." He shot back with a mild irritating voice. "Ten more points to Ravenclaw."

Luna raised her hand once more, she didn't know where those sudden urges came from but she knew she couldn't suppress the urge any longer.

Liam looked at her, not suspiciously, but in a vaguely calculating way as he walked towards her, narrowing their distance once more. "Yes, is there anything you'd like to add?"

She spoke with a thread of voice, just for him to hear. "Actually Sir, I learned all that outside Hogwarts."

He looked away, mumbling something between his teeth. "I see, who taught you all that?"

"My…at home." She shrugged, feeling uncomfortable for hiding the fact that Draco had taught her a lot about brewing potions, after all it was his favourite subject.

Leaning forward he spoke with a quiet, hissing almost breath-like voice. "You're a very fortunate girl for counting with someone who cares about your studies and your future, Miss Lovegood."

"Yes, I am." She held her breath, she didn't want to breathe him but she couldn't resist it.

"I wonder if you truly appreciate the many things you've been awarded with in this life." There was a tint of sadness mingled in his whisper-like voice as he looked into her pearl grey eyes.

Luna couldn't take it anymore so she filled her lungs with his scent: he smelled freshly showered, clean and slightly spicy, he was a temptation to each and every of her senses.

"Don't you drop that." He sneered as he caught in mid-air the small strainer spoon and caressed her drowsy and trembling hand with his fingertips.

There was something strange in the way his eager eyes looked at her behind those burgundy glasses. Liam leaned even closer to her, his breathing sounded heavier as his pupils got wider. Luna never met someone she'd felt such an immediate connection to, even if so much of him was still a mystery.

Suddenly, Luna's amused facial expression turned into a concerned frown. The deeper he dug into her pearl gray eyes the greater was the headache piling up on the back her skull. Probably was the way he kept looking at her without blinking that was upsetting her eyes. Liam then brushed his long hair back with both hands and felt his own forehead with the back of his palm, as if he was fully aware of what happened to Luna. He shook his head as if to get rid of such sensation and slowly walked away from her.

Noticing his throat unusually dry, he coughed quietly in order to clear it before addressing to the class. "The potion must be decanted and filtered in the receiving vessel. Prepare to remove then the grosser parts of the brewing by passing through the filter. The final container must be closed as much as possible and the joints sealed to prevent even a trace of the potion's scent from escaping." He said, looking up at the students, no-one in particular this time.

Luna concentrated all her attention in the glass flask in front of her as she filled it carefully with the potion making sure not to pour any drop out on her desk. She caught sight of her own reflection on it and stared at if for a few minutes until the sight of her own features calmed her, she took a big and deep steady breath and let it out slowly.

"Now that you've succeed to store the potion on the container let it rest for about twenty-four hours. Wait until it turns into a vivid blue meaning it's ready to be drank." Liam explained, coming back to stand beside the blackboard, his arms crossed over his lean chest. "The changes start immediately after you drink it and the effects will take about two and a half hours to wear out. Remember, one drop per pound if you want to double your age, two drops to quadruple it, and so on. Taking that into account, beware of the consequences if you exceed the number of drops or miscalculate your body weight for you might end up killing yourself…or others."

"So we're going to be able to test it on ourselves next class, Mr. McFodaroy?" A tall black haired boy from the first row asked looking truly curious making Liam to turn sharply his head and remove his eyes from Luna.

"No, not inside school grounds at least, Hogwarts policy." Liam paused, scratching softly his goatee.

A snobbish mannered blond girl from Hufflepuff sighed relieved. "Good! I bet it tastes as bad as it smells."

The man nodded in silence as he approached her with hands on his pockets. "The smell and flavour might not be at all appealing, I agree with that. So, in order to get your score marks on this class, next time we're going to test your potions on rats…or whatever dispensable creature we can come in handy." He finished, inspecting the girl from head to toe.

"But Sir, what happens if a rat gets accidentally killed in the process?" Luna asked clearing her voice, easing the lump that threatened to close her throat.

"All dead rats would be sent to professor Spout so she can use them as fertilizer for her plants." He shot back smirking with morbid satisfaction.

The class was almost over, Luna then lifted her smoke gray eyes and glanced at Liam, noticing that he hadn't moved more than a few inches now and again as he remained standing besides his desk with his arms crossed waiting for the last of the students to store their finished potions on a large cabinet placed on a corner of the classroom. He was strangely silent as his eyes wondered in no face or object in particular, completely lost in his thoughts. He then turned around to look at the clock hanging on the wall behind him and broke the silence before the first bell rang.

"Class dismissed!" He said as he grabbed his leather coat from the desk, shoved it carelessly over his shoulder and headed to the exit. He seemed to be in a rush.

Luna saw that his black scarf had fell to the ground without his even noticing it. She didn't think twice and rushed to pick it up. But once she turned round she found that Liam was already gone.

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"Mr. McFodaroy!" Someone called out behind him.

He waved a hand dismissively and didn't stop in a clear sign that he didn't want to be bothered. "The class is over!"

Liam then felt someone pulling gently from his coat. The man shook his head and turned round noticing that a small boy of intense dark blue eyes and shiny blond hair was looking right back at him without blinking. He was probably from 2nd year and he was wearing a Ravenclaw's uniform.

"Herr (i), may I have a word with you?" There was a heavy German accent in his voice.

"What is it boy?" Liam lifted both his eyebrows feeling slightly annoyed.

The student pocketed both hands on his cloak and shrugged. "Today's class was completely different from what I'm used to witness here at school, you remind me of my father."

Liam frowned not knowing if that was a good or bad thing, either way he certainly couldn't care less the comments of a kid.

As if reading his professor's mind, the boy confessed. "What I meant by that, Herr, is that I truly enjoyed your class and seeing you today remind me of how much I miss him."

Coughing uncomfortably the man asked. "Why, is he dead?"

"Gott verbietet! (ii)" The boy replied with a terrified look as he placed one hand over his chest. "But he's indeed far away from here, we live in Germany and he's about your age. I was born when he was very young and despite what the majority of the people would say, this helped us a lot to bring us together. I'm proud to be my father's son."

"Good for you and…your mother I guess." Liam munched through the envy of that unique fraternal love, but when he rested his eyes again on the blond he was curious to find out that he had struck a nerve. "What's the matter, did I say something wrong?"

The boy's face flushed slightly with remembered anger for a moment but then he shook it off almost immediately. "My mother left us when I was five years old. One day she just stopped loving my father, or probably never did. He did everything to make her happy, but in the end he knew that wasn't enough for her so he let go of her. I know that taking that decision was definitely the hardest he'd endured in his life, she literally broke his heart. He refused to remarry or have a companion since she left."

Liam sighed, feeling all of a sudden nostalgic. "Surely your father counts with friends to rely on."

The boy shook his head violently as he tried to suck up some air to speak. "Ich wünsche (iii), but fate trimmed every chance of happiness in my father's life."

Liam adjusted his glasses. He was starting to feel really uncomfortable by then. "That's why your mother accepted to leave you with your father then, so that he wouldn't be alone?"

The Ravenclaw replied sharply. "On the contrary, she meant to take me with her, but I chose to stay with my father instead."

"I see." Taking a step closer, he asked. "You chose your father out pity or out of fear?"

"Weder (iv). My father would never dare to lay a finger on me. He loves me more than anything in this world. He even encouraged me, against his will of course, to go with my mother if that's what I wanted. But I knew he'd be devastated if I left. Well, that's what I felt when the possibility of leaving him crossed my mind…for a split second." He said, it seemed that every time he mentioned his father something in the pale boy's face shined with an unique light.

"What did you mother say about your decision?" Liam asked without stopping to think if he sounded too intrigued with every piece of information the boy provided about his background.

"I hardly believe she ever stopped to think about me after what she'd done. I've never questioned her decision of leaving; she certainly had no right to put on trial my decision of staying." There was no inflection, not even the slightest trace of emotion in his words.

Liam sighed deeply as the boy's answers started to sink inside him. "You talk like a grown-up man and you're only…what…eleven?"

Staring blankly at the wall in front of him, the boy replied. "I'm not a child."

Liam was shaking his head slowly from side to side as he searched through the papers he was carrying for the student's lists. He then remembered that professor Flitwick was the only one who failed to provide them. "What's your name again?"

Without removing his dark blue eyes on the man, the Ravenclaw curled his pale lips in a tight smirk. "I apologize for not having introduced myself properly, my name is…"

"Scorpious, there you are! Come on, we haven't got much time left." A small girl called out but then pursed her mouth immediately and grabbed tight a gilt necklace she was wearing with both hands.

Once she repaired on Liam, she looked visible intimidated by his presence and added with a shaken and uneasy thread of voice. "We're late for…uhmm…class."

Liam frowned and inspected her from head to toe. She was a red-haired girl with annoying freckles all over her pink flushed cheeks; she was also dressed with the Ravenclaw's uniform. "She isn't your sister, is she?"

Scorpious' pale complexion became a shade of green by then. He shook his head twice and rubbed his eyes. "Nein (v). But since we've almost been raised together, she's the closest thing I've got as lap-dog…I mean _sister_." He corrected himself almost immediately, flashing a most studied innocent face.

She swallowed hard and introduced herself. "My name is Rose. I'm Scorpious neighbour as well."

The girl extended her hand, waiting for Liam to shake it but he crossed his arms and kept staring at her blankly. "Neighbours?"

"Ja (vi). It's tragically ironic how things turn up sometimes. My father used to hate her parent's guts but after he saved her mom twice they learnt to cope, sort of. At least now he doesn't hate her mom, much. It's a pity thing I'm afraid." Scorpius ended the phrase arching a sceptic eyebrow.

"I'd like to meet you father since I've heard so much about him." Liam shot back with a mocking yet envious tone in his voice.

"He's the wisest, bravest man I know but he doesn't like visits and he hardly leaves the Mason." The boy then paused and shot a scolding look at his friend whose eyes were starting to get wet with silent tears. "Mein Gott (vii), not _again _Rose!"

Rose started sobbing, and looked at Liam through her watery eyes. "I never got the chance to meet my dad; he died before I was born. Scorpious' dad is the closest father figure I've got. No matter how many times I've ended up getting on his nerves, he's always patient with me. I enjoy when he reads to me, he taught me a lot of magic too before coming to Hogwarts!"

"Well, that's exactly what godfathers are for, right?" The blond soothed her and looked up at his Potion Master. "Sorry about that, can't blame her for inheriting such weak genes, not many have been blessed like I was." Scorpious finished with a winning smirk in what Liam concluded that boy was remarkably proud of his progenitor.

Liam stopped himself from inquiring more about the subject and looked at the clock at the end of the corridor's wall as his pupils dilated. "You don't want to be late for your next class, off you go!"

"It was an honour to meet you, Herr." Scorpius said holding up a hand that Liam didn't doubt for a second to grab in his and shake it firmly.

The moment their hands touched, the boy's pale cheeks blushed with a vivid shade of pink and before Liam foresaw what was going to happen next, Scorpious wrapped both arms around the man's waist and hugged him tight, shrugging.

Liam froze, feeling uncomfortably awkward.

"I'm…pleased to meet you too, Scorpious." He mumbled, padding softly one of the boy's shoulders.

Once free from the blonde's grip, Liam took a step away and rushed towards Slughorn's office, closing the door shut behind him. _"What was all that?"_

The faint knock on the door caught him by surprise as he reluctantly removed himself from it and crossed his arms.

"What now?!" Liam shot back, staring at the door with a dark frown.

"Mr. Mcfodaroy?" A soft female voice called from the other side.

Liam felt his jaw muscles tighten as he open the door abruptly and leaned tiredly against the door frame. "What can I do for you, Miss Lovegood?"

She stared at him and her eyes didn't move as she answered. "Sir, you forgot your scarf in the classroom."

"Keep it, something for you to remember me. I won't stay long in this school, like I've said before, this is just temporary." He tossed out casually, looking so handsome that Luna felt her knees melting.

She buried her nose in the scarf's soft wool, feeling his scent. "I'd like to." Then, as though a realisation had hit her, she looked away for his gaze was so intense that it made her feel uncomfortable. "But I can't accept it."

"Pity, still I'd like to give you something else to remember me." Liam swallowed hard and took her by the wrist, pulling her inside his office as he closed shut the door pressing her body against it. "How about a kiss?"

Luna looked at him without blinking ready to hyperventilate. "NO!"

"I've noticed the way you've stared at me in class. I'm not that old and I'm not part of Hogwarts' teaching staff, so why not?" He said as he leaned towards her.

Luna opened her mouth to protest but he squashed her up tight against his chest and planted a hard, wet kiss on her. She resisted…for scarce two seconds. Then her knees went weak as she opened up for the thrust of his tongue as the kiss went deeper, harder and rougher.

She broke off the kiss. _"_Draco!?"

He didn't reply, he wanted to kiss her again but this time he covered her mouth with his in a desperate, possessive kiss before she could react to what had happened just minutes ago, leaving her breathless once more.

A smirk crossed his face, and beneath it, a twisted satisfaction, his eyes flashed beneath the glasses with deep joy as he peeked at the mantel clock on top of the office's small library.

Taking his wand from the pocket, he began to trace it through the air, writing the letters of his name: LIAM A MCFODAROY. He then waved the wand once, and the letters of his name rearranged themselves: I AM DRACO MALFOY.

"I'd certainly like to keep this in secret, a Malfoy teaching at Hogwarts? Shameful! Who would believe it anyway?" He whispered against her lips.

As the first bell of the clock resounded, he removed his eyes from Luna and brought his attention back to his body, without focusing on any particular part of it as a swirl of mixed sensations filled him whole. He attended to them calmly and easily, as he noticed both internal and external changes starting to take place. The colour of his hair turned from dark brunette back to silk blond as its length got shorter. His facial hair was gone by then as well. He was no longer a man in his mid-thirties, Draco had turned again into the gorgeous seventeen years old pure blood creature he was.

"The ageing potion lowered the tone of my voice then a changing colour and growing hair spell did the rest; still I couldn't disguise my…I mean…_your_ eyes." Draco hooked the sunglasses into the collar of his black t-shirt and looked up at her; his amethyst blue eyes never looked so clear and captivating.

Luna was lost of breath with a stunned expression all over her face, her pupils widened and got completely lost in the amethyst blue ocean of his.

She then stared at him, emotionless. "Everything about you and me…being together...it's too much and it hurts. Can't you see that it'll consume us entirely in the end?"

Draco looked too stunned to speak at first but then he cupped her cheeks with both hands and sighed soundly.

"I see promise in what you see beyond redemption." He started to say but the light in his eyes flickered suddenly as he added with a hiss. "Don't you dare to give up on us." His warning lingered on the air.

Abruptly, the door opened wide and the all-black dressed silhouette of Snape came into view. He froze as he caught sight of Luna's fragile body caged between Draco and the stone wall behind her. Without being able to hold her tears, Luna covered her face in her hands and ran towards the exit without stopping to look back.

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A/N:

(i) Herr (German Language): Sir.

(ii) Gott verbietet! (German Language) God forbids!

(iii) Ich wünsche (German Language): I wish.

(iv) Weder (German Language): Neither.

(v) Nein (German Language): No.

(vi) Ja (German Language): Yes.

(vii) Mein Gott (German Language): (Oh) My God.


	19. Chapter 19

A/N:

**A big THANK YOU to the caring souls who take their time to post a review on this fic, I love you all!**

Okay, here's a brief resume of the story so far:

In **Chapter 1st **there's a lovey-dovey view of Luna and Draco's Honeymoon bliss.

Draco's temper is put on trial on **Chapter 2nd **when the couple visits the brand new headquarters of The Quibbler and Draco is interviewed.

In **Chapter 3rd** Luna's magic improves remarkably thanks to her private teachings - mostly under Draco's wing - but that's when the young couple have their first and most significant confrontation that pushed Luna to run away.

What happens in **Chapter 4th **spins around a nightmare that unleashed Draco's most terrible fears and also a secret message delivered by his dead mother, Narcissa Black. Blaise makes his appearance after his short absence.

**Chapter 5th** is centered in Luna and Neville's friendship once she returns to Hogwarts.

And that's when the story presents no more gaps in time, since the plot is knitted non-stop with the course of each day:

The arrival of Draco at Hogwarts took place on **Chapter 6th**, what happened that same night took place on **Chapter 7th**.

FIRST DAY of Draco's return: **Chapter 8th** (morning), **Chapter 9th** (afternoon and early night), the first part of **Chapter 10th** (late night).

SECOND DAY of Draco's return "Valentine's Day": continuation of **Chapter 10th** (early morning), **Chapter 11th** (late morning), **Chapter 12th** (early afternoon), **Chapter 13th** (late afternoon), **Chapter 14th** (early night), **Chapter 15th** (late night).

THIRD DAY of Draco's return: **Chapter 16th** (early morning), **Chapter 17th** (late morning), **Chapter 18th** (early afternoon)...and this latest **Chapter 19th** (late afternoon).

Enjoy the reading and don't forget to post your reviews!

Divinne

**CHAPTER XIX**

"_Don't try to find the answer when there ain't no question here  
Brother let your heart be wounded and give no mercy to your fear._

_In a moment we lost our minds here and lay our spirit down  
Today we lived a thousand years all we have is now._

_Run to the water and find me there burnt to the core but not broken  
We'll cut through the madness of these streets below the moon._

_A__nd I will never leave you 'til we can say t__his world was just a dream we were sleeping….now we are awake."_

_(LIVE - "Run To The Water")_

All the dark blue velvet cloth drapes of the ebony wood four posted bed were untied, exactly the way she liked it when she wanted to have some quality time for herself in the room she shared with other four Ravenclaw classmates. Luna was lying on her bed, browsing through a photo album with pictures of herself as a child. She flipped through a bunch of pages and froze at the very last one. She stroked her hand gently over a picture of herself and Draco with their arms around each other in a close-up taken the very first day they arrived at Cedar's Topiary Chateau. As she got lost in those painfully burning memories, she used the sleeve of her uniform's shirt to wipe away the moist building up in her eyes.

"I know that you need me and that without me you can't go on…" A soft, sad voice hissed from the other side of the drapes.

Her whole body trembled when that familiar sound reached her ears. She rolled to a side of the bed and pulled the drapes to reveal the identity of that lonely silhouette that lurked in the shadow.

"You're probably asking yourself how could I possibly know that, right? Well, it's because I can't live without you and that thought alone is terrifying….Lumos!" The light coming from the wand illuminated the face of the person standing right beside her bed: it was Draco.

"How did get in here?" She rushed the question as she recalled that at Hogwarts only the girls could enter the boys' bedrooms without consent and not vice-versa.

"Where there's a will there's a way." He then sighed and stared at the opened photo album on the bed. "You wish blaming me could make it all go away, but it's not that simple, is it? You're broken inside, the same as I am. I'll leave you alone for good and never return if that's what you truly want."

Luna got up from the bed and walked towards him, burying her head on his chest, sobbing. "No! I don't care anymore about the past; we got a future ahead of us and I don't want to spend another minute without you!"

"You perfectly know that I can't change the way I am." She felt his thumbs tracing random patterns on her collarbone.

"Neither can I and that's exactly why I love you. I can't change what I feel for you and…" She chocked as tears started to form from the corner of her eyes. "I'm so sorry for running away, forgive me please." She whispered looking at him through her eyelids.

"Luna Malfoy, aren't you the sweetest thing?" She realized his hand had slipped inside the collar of her shirt, his fingers rubbing softly her breasts. The sensation rippled outward like a stone in a pond and felt its echo in her belly and between her legs.

"Make love to me." Luna hissed as she felt the growing lump her throat building up her angst to the verge of madness.

"Tonight you're all mine princess." He brushed the tip of his tongue against her lips as he carried her to the bed and leaned on top.

Luna got rid of her school's uniform in seconds, revealing her childish pink and black underwear to Draco.

"Meow..." Draco teased as he circled with his fingers the stamped black kitten pattern of Luna's bra.

"Take your clothes off." Luna said grabbing him by the collar of his sweater as she pulled him against her, but he caught her hand in his and kissed it.

"I've waited long enough for this moment and I want to take my time and admire the incredibly complicated yet inexplicably beautiful woman that's in front of me." Draco shook his head softly and smirked, he wanted her in ways that had nothing to do with lust, and everything to do with a far deeper need.

He kissed his way down her body. Luna's breathing got heavier; she then started to moan softly as his fingers explorer her insides. The thrust one finger inside her, then two and a third as he stroked hard, the way he wanted to thrust his hungry manhood inside her. But he held in control the urge to devour her whole and to fill her despite his overwhelming building desire as he kept spreading her moisture, making the pressure build and build as his fingers went deeper, creating waves of ecstasy rippling through her over and over until she convulsed against him.

"Every time you touch me you leave me completely breathless…" She purred as she locked her arms around his neck and kissed him full in the mouth.

Draco arched an eyebrow. "I could have done way better but since this just a dream, well…_your _dream…I understand why you'd pictured all this in such a naïve girlish way." He concluded smirking.

Luna brushed her eyes gently, coming to grips with reality, realizing that she was lying in her bed hugging tight her photo album against her bosom. As she hesitantly lifted her head from the pillow, a strange shadow swept over her head to the sound of wings, echoing up from the shadows with no exact source whatsoever. The confused girl glanced around as she picked up her wand with a trembling hand after hearing a high pitched female crying was heard echoing faintly on the walls.

"Who's there?" Luna asked as she lifted from the bed with a jump and padded barefoot the empty room trying to locate the source of such strange low humming voice without much luck.

She looked around but couldn't see a thing. There was no way of making out what the voice was trying to say. All she managed to hear was a loud whispering noise resounding pass her ears. The dirty blond girl jerked back and almost lost her balance for she was shaking madly.

To Luna's surprise, something materialized in front of her smoke grey eyes and looked at her with cracked and hollow dead eyes, it was Helena Ravenclaw: the Gray Lady. "You were talking in your sleep again Luna, calling out his name…why?"

Luna pursed her lips, cursing in silent for being so careless. It was hard to argue facts, but harder still to explain them. The girl didn't move from where she was standing as the ghost lifted her unnaturally long arms towards her she reached close enough to almost touch her, merely inches from her face.

"How could you forgive him after what he's done to you?" The ghost's expression was fierce and menacing.

The girl looked up feeling warmed her cheeks with anger. "Even if I were to explain the reason why I'm willing to sacrifice myself for him, you'd never understand it anyway."

The ghost didn't seem convinced in the least with Luna's words. "Really? Would you be willing to do _anything _for him then?"

She nodded and swallowed impulsively, her pearl eyes already glittered with tears. "Yes."

"Follow me, I want to show you something that belonged to my mother, something that would change dramatically the fate of lots of people: Draco Malfoy's life included." The ghost said without taking her cold emotionless eyes from Luna.

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Draco closed the wardrobe's door shut after retrieving a pair of black pants, matching colour shirt and a white t-shirt. He threw them on top his bed and fixed his gaze on the thick ancient book that lied next to his pillow. He shook his head once more. He looked slightly disturbed for he was keenly aware, as never before, what could happen to him in case he got things wrong. Once he finished dressing he glanced casually at his reflection on the mirror, his clothes fit too loosely on him. That was odd, taking into account they were custom made.

The Slytherin then rested one of his sharp shoulder blades against the edge of his prefect dorm's window frame and looked up. It was late in the afternoon yet a pale and eerie round white halo was starting to loom in the sky with its bright light for that night it'd complete its circle: it was going to be full moon, perfect time for Necromancy rites. He'd longed for that moment to come since he received the message from his mother in a nightmare he had the last night he spent at the Chateau before arriving to Hogwarts.

"_I just hope the unexpected won't reach its ugly head tonight"._ He said to himself.

Draco was starting to fear the setting of the sun, for the arrival of the night meant only one thing: yet another possibility of getting killed as long as he remained at Hogwarts. He closed his eyes and sighed deeply, that night he was going to enter the underworld…hopefully without actually dying.

After pocketing inside his backpack the materials needed for the ritual, he stuffed on top an all-black cloak with gold and dark red embroidered symbols and shoved it over his shoulder, heading towards the Room of Requirement.

Without lifting his amethyst blue eyes from the page he was reading, Draco pressed on his march. He felt that he was getting pretty close to the entrance, yet the door refused to appear. Frustrated, he turned to his right on the hallway and skipped my mere inches to collide in full with…Ronald Weasley.

"Hey, watch out where you're walking, stupid git!" The blond tossed out as he closed shut the book, catching in full the tired and blurred gaze of the Gryffindor who looked like he was about to drop dead right there.

"Whatever. I certainly couldn't care less what you've got to say about me Malfoy. Join the _Ron Weasley's Haters club _along with her!" He red-haired boy shrugged pointing with his index finger at Hermione.

The Slytherin looked up, glancing from Ron to Hermione and back again. "What?!"

Yelling, almost out of breath, Hermione approached Ron and stopped a couple of feet from him without even caring that Draco was there. "Ron, how dare you say it was _my_ fault? This happened all because of _you_! _You_ did this to _me_!"

"There're still two Horcruxes left, remember? I got to go, Harry needs me." Ron said calmly to her yet he was visible twisting inside.

Hermione's face was red and her eyes looked like they were going to pop out from their sockets. "Perfect! Just run away from the problems. You always want to find the easy way out of everything!"

His amethyst blue eyes followed Ron's silhouette until it disappeared at the turn of the North Wing's corridor before resting his gaze on Hermione's hot blooded face. Draco wondered when that Valentine's frenzy mood that made everybody at Hogwarts act in a funny yet stupid and childish way was going to end for good, probably not just yet.

"Why is this happening to me?" She sobbed in between taking deep breaths.

Draco sighed and rubbed tiredly his eyes. "That's because you choose to let things bother you when you can just as easily choose not to notice and consider the matter trivial and unworthy of your interest."

Hermione nodded slowly; her head looked like the one of a ragged doll, visible searching inside her for something to say but she only managed to stare at Draco in silence through her watery eyes.

"Well, you've asked." He shrugged.

Hermione looked completely exhausted and licked her lips with her tongue before speaking. "Malfoy, sometimes I truly envy you, others I certainly pity you. You're always acting so distant and so out of reach with those cold and calculating manners of yours. It must be really difficult for you to pull that through all the time, I mean...the acting. At first you might refuse to admit things you obviously feel but you perfectly know that in the end you'll say and do the exact opposite."

He held up a hand to stop her speech abruptly. "Granger, don't insult me pretending that you know me."

She smiled knowingly at him. "I dare say that I do know you a little. My sixth sense tells me that."

He pressed the thick heavy book against his chest with one hand and rolled his eyes. "That's some made-up women's nonsense!"

She tilted her head to a side and sighed deeply, feeling suddenly drowsy. "Maybe, maybe not. I know you're a caring person Malfoy. Why would you stop and talk to me then?"

"You're blocking my way if you haven't noticed." He shot back with a pissed-off look that dropped from his face the moment he foresaw she was going to faint and caught her by her waist with his free arm avoiding her imminent fall to the floor.

"Gotcha!" Colin Creevey rejoiced himself as he shot a series of instant photos at Draco and Hermione. "This is just what I was looking for!" He celebrated with an amused smile all over his rodent-shaped face.

Draco straightened up and carried Hermione to a bench before returning his attention back at Colin, but the annoying boy had vanished in thin air. _"Damn stalker!"_

"Ennervate!" Hermione's eyes flickered open after Draco's efficient awakening spell.

Hermione looked up; her eyes were half-opened from the drumming headache she was experiencing. "What happened?"

Draco took sit as far as he could from her on the stone bench and raised a concerned eyebrow while tapping the cover of his book with his fingertips. That strange aroma of hers was starting to upset him in a very striking way making his insides twist with revulsion. He considered that it was probably all too much speculation, still too few pieces to put the puzzle together as he absorbed what he had witnessed moments ago.

"You should know better than me Granger for it's another women related thing I'm afraid." The Slytherin frown and looked up. _"_I can smell it and let me tell you it's not flattering at all."

"You can_ smell_ it? How's that possible?" She opened wide her eyes and bit her lip.

"_I'm Draco's sixth sense." _He rubbed his eyelids with the fingers of one hand and shook his head slowly from side to side; that was certainly one odd _reward_ from the Ghoul's pact.

"Your mudblood's pheromones make my stomach revolt inside." He said bluntly, frowning slightly his nose. "So there you know why we, pure-bloods, reject your kind. It's not because of pride, it's because you literally smell…funny."

She blushed fiercely with shame and anger and pursed her mouth fixing her eyes on the spine of Draco's book that read in silver raised letters '_Necromancy Evocations'_.

"Malfoy, that's an infamous, not to mention forbidden book!" The fear in her voice awoke Draco's skepticism.

"Black and white, light and dark, in between the balance starts." He sang mostly to himself without making eye contact with her.

She looked at him, startled. "Dark Magic won't bring you close to any truth or knowledge whatsoever!"

Draco's expression hardened into angry ice. "In order to recognize a true light, you have to adventure inside the dark first. Fear is the main source of superstition, to conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom. Seeking the truth involves an embracement of all facets of reality, meaning both _light _and _dark _sides."

Pulling her brunette blocks away from her face with frustration she asked. "What are you planning on doing?"

The look of shocked surprise and denial on Hermione's face was enough for Draco to realize that she asked that question knowing already the answer: probably she just wasn't seeing it yet. Maybe she didn't want to.

"_Hydromancy _is a simple divinatory system, an understanding of the nature of the world beyond the material. I bet you perfectly know what _Necromancy_ is and how the two can work together, right Granger?" He folded both arms across his chest and smirked at her.

She looked up, swallowing hard. "I've might have heard about it, I guess."

"Both sciences combined made possible to see the memories of those who are long dead through divination. But instead of a pensive or crystal ball it requires a font or pit filled with water, representing the unity of matter and anti-matter blended with the blood of the advocator, for the life of the flesh is in the blood." After finishing the concept, Draco removed his eyes from her and he got up from his seat.

Hermione opened her eyes wide; her face was a white as snow. "That means you've got to fill that font with _your _blood! Malfoy, that's extremely dangerous, you could lose yourself completely in the process!"

"I know." He arched one eyebrow at the sight of the Room of Requirement's entrance slowly materializing in front of him. "But I need answers. I need to find out the truth."

She trembled as an uneasy sensation crawled all over her body. "No, you can't. I won't let you do it. I'll speak with Dumbledore!"

Draco was about to laugh his impunity out loud, but instead he turned to face her once more and smirked with malice. "I bet you'd preferred those good old times when Weasley got his _wand_ broken now that he knocked you up and ruined your life."

And with a loud crack, he disappeared from her side and once he opened his eyes he found himself in the middle of a vast dungeon hardly illuminated by two fire torches placed on opposite sides of a large font in front of him.

The whole place seemed to be built with moving shaped ink-black elongated pebbles that sparkled with vivid dark green iridescence once the flames reflected their surface. There was an odd hissing sound coming from the walls and even the floor. When Draco got to the nearest wall, he noticed that the place was not stone-built: it was actually an immensurable snake's nest. He then decided not to pay any attention to the cold and eerie feelings that threatened to pile up inside him because they were common to experience before engaging such type of rituals. After all he was the one who called the Room of Requirements to appear in the first place, right?

Draco's initial panic was soon worn off and replaced by a concerned look as he found it really difficult to walk through the entangled massive bodies of those slippery creatures. He placed his backpack down and put over his clothes the black cloak with gold and dark red embroidered symbols meant to protect him against any harm of deceit the untamed spirits might inflict upon him during the ritual.

He then noticed that a grotesquely large snake was watching him through those sleepless eyes. The reptile stretched out to meet him, giving out a monstrous hiss. The blond didn't move, he wished he could speak Parseltongue, it'd definitely come in handy at that particular moment but then something better occur to him as the thoughtful expression on his pale face changed into an amused smirk. He lifted the right sleeve of this cloak, exposing the skull with a snake protruding from its mouth marked on his flesh and held it up for the viscous creature to see. And that seemed to have worked miracles for the snake recoiled and the place suddenly became still and dead silent.

Draco grabbed the elements for the ritual and walked towards the font. To his relief it was made of stone, shaped as a five pointed star. There were two sculpted snake heads placed at the west and east side points and a large hook on centre of the font from which hanged a small tray. Behind each of the carved figures was moulded the shape of a palm meant for the advocator to place his right and left hands and let the blood be poured into the font and mixed with the water.

He made a solution of the potions he prepared earlier that day and sprinkled it over the tray before placing a necklace that belonged to his mother over it. He took three deep breaths, slowly, one at a time as he concentrated on his goal: Narcissa Black. He tried to see her as a picture if possible inside his mind and placed his hands behind the snake's heads. He lowered then his gaze and saw that those carved figures were slowly coming back to life and encircled both his wrists, piercing his flesh with their fangs, sucking the blood from his veins and pouring it inside the font.

He shrugged slightly at such stinging odd sensation and gave a slightly mistrustful look at the surrounding as he took yet another deep breath and proceed with the initiation of the ritual.

"I command thee by the force of sacred magic rites, I conjure thee by thy sighs and groans I conjure thee to utter thy voice. Come before me, and to make thy sign visible. Incessantly do I call, adjure, conjure, ordain and require thee. I conjure thee to come before me immediately, to appear before me, to answer me faithfully without falsehood and without enigmas. Come here to me, Narcissa Black and manifest thee before me this very hour and do not alarm my eyes. Come here to me, pay heed to me, because this is the wish and thy command of me, Draco Malfoy, your son and advocator."

He closed his eyes and heard the soft sound of moving water past his ears blended with a soft voice, Narcissa's voice that whispered: _"Come to the water, and find me there."_

It was then when he heard yet another voice that turned his blood ice cold, that voice contained the barking of dogs andthe howling of wolves, the complaining cries of a scared owl and the night's screech owl, the screeching and bellowing of wild animals, and the hissing of the snake. It expressed also the dashing of waves on rocks, the sound of the woods, and the thunder of a burst cloud. So many things did the single voice comprise that would certainly escape the understanding of any mortal but, of course, Draco was the exception.

The blond concentrated harder and focused on the message that voice was delivering to him. _"We speak in the name of those unwept and unburied. Advocator, your blood tastes exactly like those who turned their backs on us. We fairly warn you, put an end to your sacred incantations for you will scorn the cunning advice we shall give you if you continue with your pursue."_

And right then Draco felt a terrible pain entering him, inexpressible and unshakeable, on both his arms as the sensation began to burst inside him. He leaned forward the font as images of his own past waved the blurred waters: he saw the images of Pansy dying in order to save his life and of his own refusing to carry her body away from that condemned catacomb.

Draco, getting slightly annoyed with what he was seeing, spoke sharply. "She betrayed me."

The waters then became darker and turbulent, sparking with the recollected fractal memories from someone long dead: Pansy Parkinson herself. Draco witnessed for the first time the way she saw him through her eyes, idolizing him and yearning for his love until her very end, when she repaid her treachery giving her life for him. Those were the memories of a girl who loved him completely, giving her whole in order to prevent him from dying…those were the images of a selfish love sacrifice.

"I know I should have retrieved the body to her family, but I saved the life of others that same day too." There was a slight hesitation, a bit of guilt in Draco's voice, as much as he would allow.

"_That's not enough for us to accept, that's not the retribution we seek from a man of your sort."_

Draco felt a building pain on the back of his eyes so he closed them shut, but his mind flashed momentarily with those remembered images as his breathing became deeper and more paused, there was no way to make them go away, he had no control over them, unless…

"Because of Pansy I almost lost the woman I love and made my wife: Luna Lovegood." He concluded miserably staring at his reflection on water as one tear drop fell from his cheek right to the font, turning the dark viscous water into a violent and vivid red velvety liquid.

The voice spoke again. _"Advocator, we shall reveal to you what is true using our power, this water and your blood. Dare to open your eyes and see through deception, separate what was originated by the heart's true will and what by command of a most powerful Dark Magic curse."_

Draco opened his mouth, gasping for air as he felt the fangs of the snakes ripping harder and stronger both his wrists, piercing through his skin with ravenous hunger. "Speak to me without falsehood and without enigmas!"

"_We shall not speak lies for that's the vice of the living. We do see the truth in your blood's essence the same that you share with your wife, the blood you willingly gave for us to feed. Luna Lovegood's love for you is not free or willing: no true love can be so if it's forced by magic. We shall speak no more about the living for that's not what we've been summoned for. Reveal now the matter that brought you here before us."_

This time Draco didn't even blink and leaned closer. "I invoke you, dwellers in chaos, the abyss, and the earth, overseers of heaven and of the darkness, masters of the unseen, guardians of the hidden, managers of the infinite, fear-messengers, compelling watchers, heart-grievers give me an oracle on the matter I investigate!"

"_What's your heart's desire?"_

Taking a big and deep breath, Draco implored. "To speak with my mother and find out where she is."

A blinding light sparkled then from the tray that carried the necklace.

"_We shall be the ones speaking in the name of Narcissa Black for her spirit can't reach you from behind the veil. She had been cast away from the after-life bliss by no other than Lucius Malfoy. And what he'd done to her body is what's preventing her from seeking revenge upon her killer. She's not even allowed to come to you through magic evocation."_

Draco couldn't help feeling very tired, almost sleepy as he watched the amount of blood that had already filled the font. He knew the limit an average person would be able to endure without bleeding himself to death was right above the font's middle capacity, he still have time, not much though.

He shook his head and swallowed hard. "Tell me then where can I find her body in order to set free her soul and spirit. I want to provide and fulfil the burial's ceremony she was deprived from."

"_The one who condemned her is the only person who knows the exact location of Narcissa Black's body. She's been left forgotten to endure the crudest pain and suffering for eternity; waiting for the arrival of a saviour who would spare her from that torture and redeem her soul."_

"But Lucius is at Azkaban and it's impossible for me to enter in there." He paused and turned his head from side to side, easing his stiff sore neck. "Unless I kill someone innocent and find myself a way to get inside the prison too."

"_You shall not deprive any human-being of the gift of live, if you do, you shall be condemned for your actions in the after-life. If you kill someone who attempts against your life or the lives of those you decided to protect, you'd end up trading one life for another, the consequences would be the same: someone will live at expense of the one who died. However redemption shall be granted if you trim the path of those who take part, directly or indirectly, in the plot to rip the life of that one person whose love for you is true, free and willing__.__"_

The Slytherin was thinking fast, trying to figure things out inside his aching mind as he saw the font almost completely filled with his blood and realized he was already dealing with borrowed time or already doomed, probably both. An horrific headache began crawling up the left side of Draco's head along with a strong beat that began pounding faster, as if his skull were about to explode.

But he wasn't ready to give up just yet; he had to know the truth. "This is a test. I do know that Luna is my soul-mate. I've almost lost her once. I won't let anyone take her away from me!"

"_You're powerful, yes, but still a mortal and thus limited to your prison of flesh and bones. Do not provoke the anger of what's beyond your understanding and knowledge. The moment you detour someone's fate you contribute to cause a major change in the course of natural things, unleashing countless series of disastrous events. Be warned about this and keep in secret what's been revealed to you."_

Draco collapsed over the font feeling his strength completely drained from his body along with his blood. "I, Draco Malfoy, in the presence of all here assembled do of my own free will most solemnly swear that I shall ever keep secret those things entrusted to my ears and eyes. All this I swear upon my life, now and hereafter, and may those powers I possess, now or thereafter, turn against me should I break this most solemn oath! So mote it be!"

Feeling both his wrists free from the snake fangs imprisonment, Draco took a step away from the font but he couldn't fight the weariness in his legs any longer and fell to the ground. He was finding it very difficult to breathe as he gasped for air feeling a growing uneasiness and pain on his tired lungs. The blond crawled slowly towards his backpack for the Blood-Replenishing Potion.

Right after leaning against the viscous wall into a sitting position he caught sight from the corner of the eye of a large emerald green and black striped snake making its way towards him. Without making any sound or any violent move, the blond carefully reached for his wand with his free hand and held it close against his chest, ready to strike. But to his surprise, the reptile didn't look menacing at all: it was actually acting like a strayed pet. His shocked amethyst blue eyes stared without blinking at the snake's piercing yellow orbs and smirked uncomfortably, feeling the cold and viscous viper tongue of the creature tickling his right cheek before resting that oversized triangle shaped head over Draco's lap.

Removing with his teeth the cork, Draco held the glass vial with trembling pulse. "Bottoms up!" He cheered looking at the sleepy snake before he tilted his head up, drinking the whole potion in one sip.

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	20. Chapter 20

**CHAPTER XX**

"_You're the analyst, the fungus in my milk  
When you want no__-one and you got someone  
Through the wind you crawl and laugh at burning dunes  
When no-one else will ever see._

_Now that you know why you feel like you do  
They're turning their head whilst they wait for no one  
And finally I know why you feel like letting go._

_I'm watching you watch over me and I've g__ot  
The greatest view from here..."_

_(SILVERCHAIR – "The Greatest View")_

Blaise was deep in thought as he slowly started to figure out inside his head what was actually displayed in front of his restless dark eyes. He tried, without much luck, to understand how such perfection could actually exist, admiring it with fascination. He knew there was something very wrong with it, but he couldn't deny that it had been brilliantly achieved.

The suffocating oppression was still latent inside him and he was so tired of feeling like that. Not even his remarkable will-power could brush off those feelings completely from his head and heart. He had to stop pretending like there was nothing wrong, for he was sick of lying to himself. He sighed and shook his head; he was so messed up yet didn't care, not anymore. He took another sip of the near-empty 'Ogden's Old Firewhiskey' bottle he held tight in his left hand and began to shakily sob while caressing the image displayed in front of him before slamming his fist fiercely against the opposite wall.

Taking a couple of steps back, he rested his troubled humanity over a stone bench and looked up again, fixing his gaze at the six feet tall black and white photo of Draco displayed on centre of a large canvas tapestry that hanged besides the Great Hall's main door. Around that photo were dozens of smaller ones of boys and girls from different houses sharing a moment together: laughing, exchanging Valentine letters, chocolates and sweets, singing, telling jokes, etc. Even the photo of himself and Luna, taken the previous night during their private chat, was added. The title of the canvas read with gold letters "VALENTINE'S DAY: THE UNITY OF THE 4 HOUSES IS POSSIBLE!"

Creevey had managed to capture those feline moves, that splendid grace and unique essence of Blaise's object of affection in the most unexpected way possible: there was Draco balancing a huge ancient book on his right arm while with his left he encircled Hermione's waist as she arched her unconscious body backwards. Draco's splendid and agile moves resembled exactly those when following the compass of a waltz while Hermione's passing out looked pretty much the incommensurable bliss anyone would experience for being that close with the Slytherin's hero and dream of a man Draco Malfoy was. The tragedy in all that was that the photo showed the most romantic scene of the whole canvas! No wonder why Creevey chose it among the rest.

Blaise took a deep breath and wiped the tears from his eyes, then exhaled soundly and softly. "Here's a toast to you, my dear friend."

He then chuckled. _"Everyone at Hogwarts would go ballistic after seeing your photo tomorrow morning, Lovegood included."_

The echo of tiredly dragged footsteps coming from the other end of the corridor awoke Blaise all of the sudden from his momentary nostalgic bliss. He turned very slightly looking at the slender figure that was slowly walking past by him, it was no other than Draco and he looked visible beaten and extremely exhausted.

Aware of a silent presence on his right, Draco took rapidly his wand from his pant's pocket and aimed at the target with unfocused eyes, but then he immediately put it down for he realized who he'd come across, it was Blaise.

Even after taking the Blood-Replenishing potion, the blood level present in Draco's system was still very low and the consequences were starting to show. He stared at the black jet haired young man for a long moment through the reigning shadows before speaking with child-like enthusiasm.

"Guess what I came across a few moments ago. There was this disgustingly huge snake and the funny thing is that it was harmless actually so I've kind of made it my pet. I've left it in the Room of Requirements but maybe I can find a way to keep it, but then I thought it was not such a good idea to enslave a creature like that." He covered his mouth with a hand and slapped his forehead with the other in a fair attempt to stop himself from saying another word. _"Damn. I'm starting to sound like Luna!"_

Blaise merely blinked, staring at Draco, wondering if the blond had been brain-washed or what for acting in such stupid way. "I'd have preferred you continue with the policy of not talking to me rather than hearing such nonsense coming from your mouth."

The blond walked tiredly towards his friend and came to a halt just in front of him, narrowing his eyes, seeing Blaise though his eyelids. "I wasn't _avoiding_ you if that's what you're implying. For your information I've got my whole time-table switched now and I no longer have free periods due to this task Snape forced me into accepting."

"And what would that be?" He raised one suspious eyebrow and crossed his arms.

"It's a secret." Draco pursed his lips and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index finger, it was indeed a shameful one.

Blaise sighed soundly, pretending he didn't care, but in fact Draco's secrecy dug deep inside him and it hurt. "Whatever."

Draco combed his silk blond fringe with both hands and rested them on the back of his neck as he evaluated Blaise's facial features. If was evident that the black jet haired man was burdened with the fact that he'd just been labelled as _not reliable person _by no other than his best friend.

"You sound just like him. He also refused to tell me what you were doing." Blaise complained.

Draco frowned. "You've talked to Snape?"

Blaise lowered his gaze, deciding whether to feel sorry with himself or annoyed with Draco. He kept racking his brains out: that was a tight competition indeed. "Taking into account everything that happened to you in the last time what was I supposed to do, wait patiently for you to appear? Hell no! I felt yet another odd vibe so I just wanted to know where you were. I went to see Snape because no-one but him saw you since you left the infirmary. He assured me you were okay, but I still wanted to double-check."

Confusion cracked slightly Draco's voice. "Define _odd vibe_."

"_Shit!"_ Blaise contorted his face with a painful frown as his teeth snapped down on his tongue. "I wish I knew."

"Speak up. Now." The blond demanded, raising his voice in the last word.

The other reflected upon his next words before speaking them. "Have you ever wonder why I've kept showing up whenever you least expect?"

Draco closed shut his eyes for a moment. His friend's words had simultaneously shocked him and made sense. "How long…when did you start feeling those _vibes_?"

"For many years now, but they became stronger a week after my last birthday. That was when I finally understood what they meant." Blaise's voice was barely a whisper.

Draco's heart missed a beat. He clenched his chest with one hand and forced himself to breathe again. That date matched with the death of his mother, Narcissa Black. Along with such revelation came crawling a piling headache that threatened to break his skull in two.

A sudden wave of weakness and freezing cold overcame the blond. "Why didn't you tell me about this before?"

"And say what exactly, that I was _worried sick_ about you? Yeah…right." Blaise lowered his head causing some of his messy ink-black blocks brush slightly the tip of his nose. "I chose to keep an eye on you instead and make sure nothing bad would happen to you again."

Draco didn't know what else to think at that rate, his head was a knotted mess of entangled confusion. He just kept staring at the nothingness in a deep state of trance that seemed to last forever.

Blaise then crossed his long legs over the bench and replied Draco's unexistent but latent question. "Unlike you, Luna had her four daily meals and she attended to all her scheduled classes."

"Will you stop doing that? You're freaking me out!" The blond sounded frantic, to the point of losing his sanity altogether.

Welcoming his friend's uneasiness, Blaise chuckled a bit. "Don't worry. I haven't found a way to read your mind, _yet_." Then he sighed soundly. "But whenever you've got that hopeless and _stupid _lost look plastered all over your face is because you're thinking about her."

Draco narrowed his tired eyes with the attempt to focus his foggy vision field and take a closer look at Blaise. "I didn't know you were checking on Luna too."

"I had to since you were nowhere around…duh!" Blaise protested with a pissed-off expression.

The blond tensed a bit, trying to come up with the exact words to thank him. "I guess I…"

But Blaise cut him abruptly. "Don't you dare to get used to it. I won't let that nutcase become _my_ headache!"

Draco smirked uncomfortably, it was terrifying how much Blaise knew him but there was something in his friend's expression that upset him. After all, he also happened to read Blaise like an open book most of the time. "Spit it out."

"Did you know that there's a new Potion Master? He was recommended by professor Snape for the post. McFodaroy is a remarkable alchemist and I congratulate the man for pairing us in class with Ravenclaw instead of Gryffindor. It's obvious that he has deep-rooted issues with those gits, no wonder, he'd been a Slytherin. But there's _something _about him…I don't know how to explain it." He paused and shot a confused look at Draco.

"If you're short of words you'd better focus on building up your vocabulary before doing anything else." The blond replied tiredly.

Shrugging, he started rocking himself slowly back and forth in his Buddha-style sitting position. "The eyes are the windows of the soul. No matter how hard that man tried to shield them behind those burgundy glasses, I still could feel his sadness so vividly inside me. I wish I knew why he'd affected me like that, it might sound crazy but I wanted to take some of his pain and make it part of me just to ease somehow his suffering."

Draco replied tonelessly. "I don't understand how you could let the burdens of a stranger get under your skin so easily."

Blaise's voice was cracking more and more. "That's the problem, I felt like I knew him, as if he were..." His words died before even getting the chance to come to live.

"Finish what you were going to say." The blond demanded to know after a long pause.

"I can't, it's a _secret_." He returned the verbal slap he received from his friend earlier with a venomous smile.

"Whatever." This time Draco copied the other's reply, but contrary to Blaise's annoyed look previously, Draco kept himself completely numbed, as if nothing had moved him really, and that only fuelled Blaise's uneasiness.

The black jet haired young man had a sudden change of heart, he wasn't going to let the subject drop dead, not completely at least. "Nobody can hold up the walls around him for long, sooner or later everyone ends up giving in some way or another. Probably that man was confronting a borderline today but that doesn't mean he's weak, he's just human. It's not a _crime _to feel down from time to time...shit happens, you know?"

At first, Draco said nothing, but then he smirked coldly. "Blaise, if you're _that_ bored instead of racking your brain with such existential rambling why don't you nurture it and read a book from the library's restricted section?"

"Not only books are meant to be read, people too_._" His pitch-black eyes flashed with an eerie light. "Anyway, I guess I'm the only one who saw that because everybody else was just caught up in McFodaroy's charisma. Most of the girls made a complete mess of their potions. They were only interested in imprint every inch of him in their heads rather than paying attention on what they were doing. So he put all them in detention right away without waiting for the end of the class: they had to clean everybody's cauldrons and potion kits. That turned out to be fun to watch actually."

Draco tried to smirk then, but couldn't quite bring himself to do it either.

Blaise scratched his chin before continuing. "Since there was still time left for the class to end and the girls were still busy doing their chores, McFodaroy invited the rest of us to his office - actually Slughorn's former office - to continue talking about potion brewing and alchemy but then we ended up talking mostly about our lives. That man inquired about our present concerns and future prospects but he did it in a way that everybody felt comfortable in his presence despite the fact it was the first time we saw him. Instead of acting like our Potion Master he resembled more like a caring parent. We'll, at least to me, that man did remind me of my father in many aspects. Despite he remained distant, and I dare say a bit cold most of the time, there was something in the quality of his gaze and in his words that made us confide in him right away."

"I can't believe a con artist like yourself low the guard and allow to be swindled by someone you know nothing about." Draco hesitated, as though he wished to tell his friend the truth, but he shook his head, discarding completely the idea. "That man could have been someone sent by the Dark Lord to get information about yourselves, haven't you thought about that?"

Blaise's eyes widened for a fraction of second and then narrowed. "Oh mate, you're way _too_ paranoid." Then he tilted slightly his head to a side. "At first McFodaroy _did _look suspicious to me, but the moment I focused on his eyes I knew that man was incapable of hurting any of us. For your information not everything can be rationalized: there's something in the guts called instincts, you should rely on them more often."

The blond fixed a mocking look at his friend._ "Now you're the one who's talking just like Luna." _

But Blaise continued to talk his mind out loud. "Even his name: Liam A McFodaroy…it sounds _familiar_." He opened wide his ink-black eyes as suddenly and unexpectedly everything sank inside him. "Holy shit, you are him! That was the big _secret_?!"

"Not anymore." Draco rubbed his eyes with one hand and shrugged. "I'm going to bed. I'm tired and cold."

"Here, take my cloak." Blaise motioned to get up from his sit and take it off, but when he saw that Draco refused the offer and remained with his feet glued to the ground shooting a dark look, he asked. "Want to take a sit?"

Draco refused again. He knew that if he dared to rest at least for a while he'd probably dozed off right there. Despite feeling extremely tired, he preferred to remain where he was, this way he wouldn't fall asleep standing up…or that's what he thought.

The blond shook his head slowly and yawned. "Just give me a fair reason why should I stay here freezing my arse off instead of procuring myself a comfortable good night's sleep?"

"Because spending quality time with your best friend is worth enough the sacrifice?" Blaise replied pitifully.

"No, it's not." Draco said bluntly and started to walk away from him.

Blaise was tempted to follow him, but he chose to lay down on his sit instead and called out. "Did you know why Liam reminded me of my father?"

Draco paused to consider the question while he continued to give his back at Blaise, hiding the subtle worried frown that wrinkled his temple.

The jet hared young man's cheeks were already burning with an infinite shade of reds, but he didn't care. "I felt a strong protective figure in him, like the one of a parent or elder sibling. He really listened to what we were saying! He showed that he truly cared about us, that's why!"

With a tired scolding tone, he turned to face Blaise and shot back. "Look, I did what I had to so that no-one would ever suspect that Liam and I are the same person, okay?"

"I can perfectly tell when someone's _acting_. You might have fooled me with those new _old_ looks, but the way you handled yourself with us was genuine." Blaise's lips then curled into a proud smile. "Without a doubt, you're going to be a great father."

It shouldn't but that comment wounded Draco deeply. With the hurtful point of view of the blond concerning parenthood issues, it felt extremely painful. Maybe others would have taken it as compliment, but to Draco it was complete the opposite.

Blaise spoke quietly without removing his pitch-black eyes from Draco's sick pale complexion. "You'll never be like Lucius."

"To stop history from repeating itself I've decided not to have children with Luna." By the time Draco looked back at his friend, his eyes were dead-blank and cold as ice.

Blaise started humming in a fair attempt to tame his sudden rage. "If you don't have faith in yourself, you'd better deposit it in those who believe in you."

"Eitherway, Luna doesn't even let me touch her." Draco paused and half-closed his amethyst blue eyes in an effort to control his temper. "So that narrows even more that possibility, don't you think?"

Letting go a sound and exaggeratedly sigh, Blaise broke the tense silence between them. "Just say the word and I'd do it."

"Order you to kill Luna? Never!" The blond held his breath and fixed his gaze on the floor for a long moment, he felt his head spinning. "I don't want her to die, not by my hand or by any other for that matter."

"Do you love her that much?" Blaise asked, trying to ignore the stinging puncture of jealousy from trimming his temper.

"Is that so hard to believe?" Draco replied avoiding looking directly at Blaise, but he could perfectly hear his friend cracking his knuckles and shifting his position on the stone bench.

Blaise smacked his fist into the wall and hissed violently when his knuckles hit the harsh stone surface. "Yes, because I can't stand the idea of your being the masochist kind!"

Both young men looked at each other for a whole minute without blinking, unable to say anything else. The darkness that haunted Draco's amethyst blue eyes was nothing in comparison with the incommensurable pitch-black depth of Blaise's infuriated eyes.

Defeated, Draco dropped his gaze to his friend's bleeding knuckles. "Don't do that again you brute, it unnerves me."

The comment shocked Blaise at first, but then he chuckled a bit despite himself and looked away as those words sink inside him: Draco also hated to see him getting hurt.

After pocketing his wand, the blond asked without much interest. "What were you doing here sitting all by yourself?"

"I'm just…" Blaise stopped and blinked twice once he repaired on his by then healed knuckles – thanks to Draco's silent healing charm - before continuing. "Just making sure I'd have the better sit possible for tomorrow's show." His voice denoted a tense sarcasm.

"Show?!" The blond Slytherin glanced around, looking doubtful as he continued to watch his friend staring obsessively at something from above his shoulder. "What is it that you're staring at?"

"See it for yourself." Blaise limited to reply with a tight and uncomfortable smile curling his lips.

Draco turned round and stared at the canvas wide-eyed. "What the heck?" The tone of his voice sounded alarmed but confused at the same time. "What kind of sick joke is _that_?!"

Blaise suddenly laughed, the absurdity of the situation finally got the better of him, and he laughed out loud.

Draco stared back at his friend, puzzled for a split-second, but when he turned to look at the photo of himself and Hermione, he was enraged. "I'm going to burn that bloody thing to the ground!"

Without getting up from his seat, Blaise shrugged and asked incredulously. "Why would you destroy something beautiful?"

"Excuse me?!" The irritated tone in Draco's voice sounded calmer than intended due to his tiredness, but the rage was clearly underneath the surface.

"I must admit that Creevey is an ingenious bastard. Just look at that photograph closely: the light and shade in your face, your hair, your eyes, every single detail of yours is…well…_flawless_." Blaise said pulling back his dark hair as he stretched his legs over the bench, missing by a mere inch to knock down the firewhiskey bottle he'd left forgotten by his side.

Draco pointed a finger at his friend's face, stabbing the air to make his point. "Will you stop making jokes at my expense? Cut it out, _now_."

"Me…joking?!" Blaise stood up, smashing the bottle with a violent kick, as he tired desperately to fix his gaze anywhere else rather than Draco's judging eyes.

Draco sniffed the air around Blaise and shot back with a disgusted frown. "You're drunk?!"

Blaise turned to him, raising both his eyebrows up. His face looked impassive at first sight, but there was a slight shade of disturbance behind it. "No, I'm not _drunk_! I don't need alcohol to excuse my words or encourage me to say the things I want to!"

"Come on mate." Draco sighed soundly and paused a moment, backing off a bit without losing balance. "I don't want us to fight. Don't do this."

Blaise looked right at Draco and suddenly, he snapped angrily, waving both arms in the air with exasperation. "What the hell are you complaining about? I'm not doing a _fucking_ thing about _anything_!"

"It's been a long day." The worried tone in Draco's voice changed to calm but sad. "Things would be better in the morning, you'll see."

Blaise tilted his head to the side and crossed his arms. There was a strange light in those dark eyes of him, as is they were fighting back the tears from filling them.

Shaking his uneasiness, Draco closed shut his eyes and aimed his wand towards the canvas. "Incen…"

And it was right when Blaise locked his arms around Draco's chest from behind, preventing him from casting the spell that would have settled on fire on the whole canvas.

He pressed his cheek against Draco's and hissed in his ear, breathing through his building frustration and anger. "Don't you dare."

"Okay, fine…I won't burn that _sodding_ photograph." Draco muttered in between clenched teeth.

When he turned to meet Draco face to face, Blaise read through his friend's real intentions and didn't release him from his tight grip. "You filthy liar!"

Draco shot him a killing look and struggle to release himself from those strong arms that surrounded his slim frame in such tight manner. "You're crossing the line, again. Why do you keep testing my patience?"

But Blaise wrapped his friend's body even tighter against him. "I've got the message last time, don't worry, I'll behave. But let me tell you that you're the one who's shacking here, not me."

"I'm bloody freezing here, damnit!" Draco spitted out but then he started to chocke, his breathing came in between violent spasms as his knees went weak for his lack of strength.

Noticing that something bad was visible happening to his friend, Blaise shoved one of the blonde's arms over his shoulder as he encircled one of his around Draco's slim waist and carried him to the nearest bench.

Desperation mixed with uncertainty threatened to rip Blaise's heart as he examined the blending color of Draco's eyes switching from dark amethyst-blue to a pale pearl-gray and back again.

Holding Draco's face between his hands, Blaise muttered softly. "Something funny is happening to your eyes."

Draco felt like throwing up, but the moment Blaise's fingers started to rub in circular motion the sides of his temple to relieve the tension, Draco felt somewhat better. There was still a building band of pressure encircling his head with the most intense pain over his eyebrows.

With difficulty Draco managed to say. "Side effect…pumped out…completely."

Exhaling his worry out of his lungs all of a sudden, Blaise yelled. "WANKER!"

Chocking and blushing with a self-restrained laughter, the blond shot back. "No, you stupid git! I've got most of my blood drained performing a Necromancy Ritual earlier. It will take some time for the Blood-Replenishing Potion to finally kick in."

Blaise cursed under his breath as he rested Draco's back against his muscular torso and placed both his arms around him, wrapping Draco upper body in a protective way. He then rested his chin one of the blonde's sharp shoulder blades and pulled up the shirt's sleeves inspecting the two profound fang marks on both Draco's wrists.

"Why would you do such thing?" Blaise sounded more worried than angry towards Draco.

"I needed answers." Draco yawn a couple of times as he tried to keep his eyes open.

But Draco knew that he was fighting a lost battle; the tiredness of his body got the best of him as he submissively succumbed to it. He rested his head against Blaise's toned and muscular chest that served as improvised pillow and sighed deeply. The rhythm of his friend's heartbeats were starting to lull him, inviting him to close his eyes and sink in the depths of sleep.

The hours past by like seconds for Blaise, he couldn't help but smile at the sudden turn of events of that night. There he was sitting over a stone bench embracing Draco with his strong shapely arms, using his own cloak to wrap the blond in a cocoon, comforting the freezing sleeping beauty with the warmth of his body. Blaise was experiencing in the flesh the happiest moment of his life. He was delighted with that unique and priceless view of Draco fast asleep, breathing slowly and deeply, the blond looked so calm and carefree cuddled against him.

Blaise sighed deeply once more and combed back with his fingers the silk blond curls from that gorgeous sculpted face of Draco before resting his head against the wall. The bright yellowish halo of the full moon that was coming from one of the windows illuminated with its powerful light the entire hall. If it was a dream he'd certainly never wanted to wake up, but this was the real thing, this was actually happening. Blaise never thought it would be possible for him to feel so complete and happy, he wanted to stop time and make it last forever: it was heaven on earth.

Draco woke up quietly and softly, narrowing his eyes for they still hurt a bit. "Mother?"

"You've fell asleep, it was a dream." Blaise soothed him.

The blond then exhaled soundly, getting in touch with reality as he slowly regain consciousness and looked back up at his friend, trying to open more his eyes this time as he continue to rub them with one hand.

"I don't recall what I've just dreamt but it felt exactly like when my mother used to watch over me in my sleep as a child because I felt protected, loved and warm." He stopped all of a sudden, seeing trough his eyelids Blaise looking at him with an understanding smile.

Draco realized then that his best friend's arms were wrapped tightly around him; still he didn't move and swallowed hard, feeling awkward. "Blaise?"

"Uhm?" Blaise just froze, staring at Draco, too stunned to speak and afraid of what his blond friend would say or do to him this time after realizing he'd fell asleep wrapped in his arms without his even knowing.

"How long was I asleep?" Draco asked casually stretching his back, gaining some space for himself before he took sit besides Blaise.

Letting go a silent sigh of relief, the black jet haired man replied immediately. "Just a couple of hours, it's still dark outside. According to the moon's position, I dare say it must be around three o'clock."

Draco frowned and stood up from his sit as if being pulled by an invisible string from the bench. He looked worried, as if something about Blaise's statement struck him. Then he realized something as he looked around.

"What's the matter?" Blaise asked incredulously.

Right then Draco felt an uneasy building sensation running through his body. "Something's out there, lurking in the darkness and it's coming closer."

Lifting himself up from his sit without getting alarmed, the other asked. "Death Eaters?"

Draco nodded as he rubbed unconsciously a slight puncture on his right forearm.

Very calmed and resolved, Blaise said. "It's your call, what do you want to do next?"

Draco swallowed hard and looked at his friend seriously. "I want you out of this Castle. Now."

"Bollocks! I won't leave your side." The other shot back getting immediately angry with his friend.

Pulling back his blond silk hair with both hands making a mental countdown, in a clear sign of trying to regain some composure, Draco shot back. "Why do you bother asking me then?"

The other shrugged. "It comes involuntarily I guess."

Draco arched an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "I know. You always end up doing whatever the hell you want."

"Does that bother you?" Blaise asked pursing his lips.

The blond sighed soundly after shaking his head twice. "No, because that proves that you're the only one in charge of your life and that's admirable. What does bother me is that whenever you seem to come up with a firm resolution, you still demand to know what I think about it, giving me the impression that you're not confident enough with yourself."

Blaise dropped his gaze to the floor and chuckled nervously. "The day I stop waiting for your approval you'd end up getting pissed to high hell with me for my actions."

"ARGG!" Draco pressed his forearm against his chest and hunched forwards as the bubbling burning pain beneath his skin gained intensity. His pupils dilated when he caught sight of something from over Blaise's shoulder.

"What now?" Turning his head back, Blaise discovered then the reason of his best friend's uneasiness as he looked from the window.

The menacing vivid green silhouette of the Dark Mark was coming right from above the Astronomy Tower. The blond Slytherin noticed that his breathing was faltering again, but this time it was remotely related with lack of strength or tiredness...it was something else.

"_Your deepest fear is not your weakness. Your deepest fear is that you are powerful beyond measure. It is your light, not your darkness, what frightens you the most." _Whispered a voice inside Draco's head, a voice he couldn't recognize because it was completely foreign to him.

An overwhelming rush of feelings overcame Draco just then, he shook his head twice resolving is was useless to shut it down and looked at Blaise in the eye. "We've got to warn everybody about this."

Blaise took his wand from his pocket, there was a confident smile curling his lips. "Together we'll bring those fuckers down!"

What Draco was experiencing was something beyond rationality, for it was a matter of the heart it its purest and rawest manifestation. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

From his wand erupted a massive silvery halo that morphed into three gorgeous winged dragons, each one carrying a warning message: one was specially addressed to Luna, other meant for the whole staff and student body at Hogwarts and the last one addressed to the Order of The Phoenix.

Blaise looked at his friend with a blank stare after the departing of those unique _messengers_. He never saw the blond looking so worried, unstable and threatening at the same time.

"I can't find a way to give you everything you deserve." Draco's amethyst blue eyes blinked away for a brief moment and when he turned back to meet his friend, they were completely changed. "But I'm willing to share with you what's left in me."

Blaise looked up, astonished, and held his breath in anticipation of what was coming.

In the half light, Draco's eyes looked smoke grey. "The Malfoy's Clan carries one of the most ancient, vilest yet strongest pure-blood lines in the Wizardry World plus I did my share to corrupt it even more." He paused, a devilish smirk curled his pale lips but then he got darkly serious. "With that said, I want you to consider carefully what I'm about to offer."

Guessing his best friend's thoughts, Blaise replied without hesitation. "I accept."

Draco then raised his wand over his head and moved it in a clockwise turn, drawing three invisible circles around him. "The _union _of the blood-lines is nothing but a myth for it actually implies the _ruling_ of the strongest over the weakest one: after all, that is nature's primary law. The Zabini's Clan essence within you will be completely erased once you step into the circle with free will and full trust." Looking up at Blaise, he asked. "Do you trust me?"

Taking a step closer and into the inner circle, Blaise replied with a confident smile. "One hundred per cent."

"_That was always your biggest mistake."_ Draco smirked to himself as he took out from his pocket his black handled knife and held it tight. "Extend your right arm with your palm facing up."

Blaise did as requested, and felt the blond cupping his hand from beneath as he made a clean deep cut on Blaise's palm and then he made one on his own.

Without breaking eye contact with his friend, fingers entwined, Draco raised both his and Blaise's hands up and called out. "Three times round the circle's cast, the first to cleanse, the second to consecrate, the third to empower."

Pressing both bleeding palms together, squeezing them tight against each other, the blond locked his eyes with his friend and called out again. "I, Draco Malfoy, cast this unbreakable circle with you, Blaise Zabini as I conjure thee, oh mother-earth to surround and seal the circle, out of the black and into the white, out of the white and into the red, out of the red and into the world, prepare the way for this sacred rite, send your protection from above unto us and let his and my blood be blend together as one."

As his concentration got deeper, Draco's face got tense and focused on his pursue. Blaise found almost impossible to make out what was going on inside his friend's mind, but those pearl grey eyes, Draco's true eyes, sparkled like blazing fire. Both young men then blinked hard startled with a blinding light that emanated from within the circles and washed them both with its luminescence.

After a long, deep breath Draco spoke once more and this time Blaise recited along with him. "Elementals of fire, air, earth and water may be bound to us like two component parts of one same self, let us reborn as equals. We now share one same blood and earth is our centre, we now share one same blood and air is our wisdom, we now share one same blood and fire is our power, we now share one same blood and water is our energy. Oh mother-earth, ground us, guide us and empower us as we open willingly to you. As above, so below, this sacred circle is cast. So mote it be!"

Taking a step backwards at the same time, the blinding light disappeared completely and both friends found themselves back in the corridor haunted with foggy shadows cast by the moonlight on the sparking stone walls and floor. For a brief moment, neither could speak. Blaise remained still, feeling his face burning hot with overwhelming happiness as he stared in silence at Draco without being able to say a word or make a sound as his heartbeats increased dramatically their speed inside his chest.

"Thank you." Blaise breathed softly the words, they sounded barely a whisper.

Draco raised an eyebrow but didn't reply as he clenched his bleeding hand into a tight fist.

"I wanted this, stop looking at me like that." He felt all of a sudden scrupulously examined by the blonde's tormented gaze.

Locking a blazing grey-amethyst stare into the pitch-black darkness of Blaise's eyes, Draco finally spoke. "You're officially damned."

Rolling his eyes, dismissing Draco's words completely, Blaise held his wand and aimed it at his own hand in order to cast a healing spell towards his deep open wound.

But Draco jumped right at him as he encircled his fingers around Blaise's wrist. "Don't."

"I also happen to know how to perform a stupid healing spell…geez." But when Blaise looked down into his own palm, he saw the open cut closing by itself leaving just a thin trace of dried blood.

Without releasing his friend's hand, Draco's said with a thread of voice. "I wasn't joking earlier: you've just got yourself a ticket to hell."

Blaise nodded as he broke the silence of his own amazement smiling widely. "Hades, front row, sitting next to my brother: the perfect after-life plan."

Draco swallowed hard, his voice sounded raspy. "This is serious, damnit!"

Blaise spoke again, his grin was still there. "Forgive me for rejoicing with the idea that you're not going to be alone in the after-life."

The blond sucked up a silent and sound breath and looked up.

The moment Blaise levelled those determined pitch-black eyes with Draco's greyish-blue gems, his facial features hardened. "Draco, whatever torment you'd suffer in the underworld, I'd be there to take half the burden."

Draco closed shut his eyes and tightened the grip around Blaise's wrist, he was visible shacking. "No matter what happens tonight, don't turn back on your steps, don't you dare to look back. You just run and keep running as far away from Hogwarts as possible."

Anticipating the blonde's intentions Blaise replied without contradicting Draco. "Heroes don't live to tell the tale. Check."

Draco leaned closer, speaking with a thread of voice. "Just promise me something."

Raising both eyebrows with an accomplice look, the other replied. "Anything."

"I'm counting on you, to survive and to protect Luna." Draco then lifted his head up and looked through the window at the Dark Mark as his eyes got wider and darker, blurred with a tint of insanity. "One of us has to make it alive tonight: my bet is on you, _brother_." That last word trembled in the blonde's lips proudly.

Easing the lump on his throat, Blaise swallowed painfully. "What are you trying to prove by going to that Tower?"

"I finally know what I've got to do." Draco caged Blaise's head in his shaky hands and forced his lungs to breath steadily, smirking nervously. "You've once said to me you'd take care of Luna and make sure she honoured my memory in case I die: prove that you're a man of your word!"

Blaise nodded, holding the tears from surfacing. "I'll do it, I promise." But right after that he hugged Draco tight in his arms in an attempt to hold him a couple of minutes more. "Please stay, don't leave me."

Draco whispered in his friend's ear. "What runs through your veins is _my _blood. I'd never _ever_ leave you: you're a Malfoy now."

Blaise shook his head; tears were already rolling down his cheeks. "You agreed to give me your blood because you're looking forward to get yourself killed tonight?!"

"I did it because that's the only way I'd be able to protect my family, always." Draco's glassy eyes fluttered thinking the words he couldn't say out loud. _"Even after I'm gone."_

Without breaking the embrace, Blaise wrapped his arms even tighter around Draco, both were shaking badly. "How can you possibly ask me to let you go there all by yourself?! Are you insane?!"

"I'm aware of all the pain and suffering I've caused to you and to Luna." Keeping his voice low, the blond added. "I hope one day you'll both be able to forgive me for loving too much but also too little the two people I care the most in this world."

Draco broke the embrace, looked up at - a perplexed, moved and speechless - Blaise one last time and fairly flied down the corridor, dashing for the Astronomy Tower.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Moments after being alerted with the warning message of the imminent Death Eaters' attack delivered by an incommensurable silvery dragon, Draco's Patronus, all the students at Hogwarts launched themselves into a massive runaway to get as far away as possible from the Castle's grounds.

Luna lifted herself up from the floor after getting rid of the menace of two Death Eaters. One lied unconscious a couple of feet away from her, the other had been crushed under what was left of a gargoyle statue. She looked overwhelmed, trying to maintain control of a very large group of scared and confused students from her same House.

She leaned against the wall for support, her shaking body screamed in protest, her muscles burned with incredible tiredness. "I'm afraid we've got to find another way out, that exit is blocked."

No-one moved as a third Death Eater suddenly, violently shoved the remainings of the statue out of the way and walked determined towards Luna breathing soundly and angrily beneath the mask.

She pushed herself from the wall, forcing her legs to defy gravity and support her one last time.

"Expelliarmus! After failing to disarm her attacker she tried again. "Impedimenta!" Noticing that didn't work either, she tried one more time. "Incarcerous!" But the all-black figure was quick, he managed to dodge every single spell.

The Death Eater then grabbed her by her throat, dragging her up till she was off the ground. Luna was then eye-to-eye with him; she could hear him grinning hideously through his mask as she started chocking.

Her lungs were desperately sucking in air, that was the only thing filling Luna's thoughts, the simple act of inhaling. She knew that long as she kept breathing, she and her classmates stood a chance to get out of there alive as she watched at the ceiling with her vision plagued with the black spots of near unconsciousness. But then a vivid green light illuminated the place, she noticed that the Death Eater's breathing ceased all of a sudden and released her abruptly.

Luna felt that someone had caught her from behind before she could hit the floor and saw the menacing figure of her attacker getting literally crushed against the wall; blood was coming from beneath the Death Eater's mask.

"Lovegood." A harsh voice murmured as she turned to face the person who had just saved her.

"Blaise?" She barely managed to speak as she grabbed her rescuer's shoulders to steady herself back in her two feet.

"I saw you've placed yourself in the front line, so brave." He brushed off her hands from him and straightened his cloak, shooting a pissed-off look at her. "And so bloody _stupid_. You've almost got yourself killed."

Gasping between breaths, Luna shot back. "I perfectly know…how to defend…myself."

Blaise looked at her violated throat with a sceptic look and added. "Sure you do."

Easing the drumming inside her aching chest, she looked up at him with watery eyes. "I've improved a lot learning from Dra…"

Blaise waved an arm in the air and cut her abruptly. "…from the _best_, yes. I picked up my best tricks from him as well. But you haven't got what it takes to win a fight, at least not yet, _love_."

They exchanged heated looks, she feared whenever he addressed her in such cold and threatening way, it was like he literally spitted that word out with the venom of his resentment towards her.

He then inspected her from head to toe and, to make things worse, once Blaise repaired on what she was wearing - an oversized black satin buttoned shirt with an embroidery crest that read "DM" on its pocket and drawstring pants - his enraged look blended into a mesmerized yet disgusted frown. She was dressed with one of Draco's pyjamas. How dared she!

Obviously misinterpreting the whole scene, the rest of Luna's classmates looked at each other exchanging amusing looks after hearing the Slytherin addressing her as "love". They started wondering if the rumors of their snogging at the girl's bathroom days ago were true and if he was indeed her boyfriend for his eyes seemed somewhat glued to her.

Blaise removed his judging gaze from Luna as the humming of gossips got louder inside his skull. When he paid attention at the overwhelmed audience, he noticed that the whispering ceased all of a sudden as the faces of Luna classmates, all girls, started blushing madly.

"What?!" He asked with an exasperated tone in his voice.

The silent that followed revealed a major fact that Blaise had skipped due to his zero interest in the matter. Those students were dressed in their sleeping clothes, translated in other words: Blaise was the only man among a large group of girls dressed in comfy but somewhat brief clothing.

Rolling his eyes at the bizarre turn of events, he confessed. "No worries, I've seen women wearing less than _that_."

Blaise then got haunted by images of his mother's girlfriends holding sleep-over parties after the many weddings and funerals he had to endure thought the years, no wonder his mother was tilted as "The Black Widow" by so many people. He then felt really sick remembering the many times those women come at him offering everything he'd desire, but he never granted them the slightest chance for he'd devoted his heart and body to one person only: Draco Malfoy.

As he got rid of the trance, Blaise blinked twice and focused his attention on a girl from 7th year of long ink-black hair and perfect ebony skin dressed only with a turquoise tank top over her underwear that hardly covered her generous, voluptuous built body. She kind of reminded him of his mother. Walking towards her, he leaned in as he took off his cloak and handled it to her.

"Here babe, you'll catch a cold with such a low neck." Blaise offered with the grace of a true gentleman.

Blushing even more, the girl muttered her thanks and giggled hysterically. Blaise limited himself to smirk tightly at her for a brief moment.

Then, as he inspected the surroundings he got serious and turned to face the group of students with a serious look. "Ladies, I'd suggest you get away from here as fast as your precious legs could manage."

"I'm so glad a brave man came to the rescue!" Shot back a red-haired girl without removing her curious eyes on him.

Glancing nervously over his shoulder, Blaise noticed the shadow of a new threat coming towards them. "Everybody…RUN!"

Luna froze a couple of inches from Blaise as she chocked with desperation. "Wait! Aren't you coming with us?"

Without looking at her, he raised his wand and assumed position. "I'll create some divestment in order to gain time so that you can find a safe place to hide."

Noticing that Luna's feet were still glued to the ground, he spun his head at her and ordered. "Lovegood, those girls need someone to lead them. Take them away from here, NOW!"

She nodded in silence, trying to ease the lump of her throat.

"Bring it on, fuckers!" Blaise roared at the group of Death Eaters that popped up right in front of him.

Luna stopped in the corridor and looked up at the Slytherin, startled to hear Draco's acerbic sense of humour surfacing in Blaise.

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**A/N:**

Woohoo! This is the longest chapter so far! I was really inspired while listening to Silverchair and that's why I chose a song of this amazing group that resumes perfect the meaning and feelings of what you've just read.

Want to know what happens next? Post a review! I'm greedy, hehe!

Question: Does anyone know the name of Blaise's mom? In the HP books they briefly mentioned her as Mrs. Zabini. If you know, please drop me a line!


	21. Chapter 21

**TO MY BELOVED ONES: **

**XDracoMalfoysGirlX , silvergold-quills** **(AKA: silver-quill) , luvstar , dracosgirl4eva , BLACK**

**THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONSTANT SUPPORT, KEEP REVIEWING!!!**

**CHAPTER XXI**

"_It's true, we're all a little insane but it's so clear now that I'm unchained  
Fear is only in our minds __but it's taking over all the time.  
_

_One day, I'm gonna forget your name, a__nd one sweet day, you're gonna drown in my lost pain._

_You poor sweet innocent thing, dry your eyes and testify  
And oh you love to hate me don't__ you, honey? I'm your sacrifice_

_Do you wonder why you hate? Are you still too weak to survive your mistakes?"_

_(EVANESCENCE - "Sweet Sacrifice")_

Draco knew something was wrong the instant he walked into that room. It seemed deserted and there was only a dimly lit area in the centre where the light cut a thin path through the dust and dry air, illuminating very little, it slightly resembled a stage. The sound of glass falling from the display cabinets and ceiling, leaving aside the smashed splinters under his feet, evidenced that something violent happened there scarce minutes ago.

The Slytherin stopped walking abruptly, aiming his lighted wand down, he hunched forward and picked up something from the floor, it seemed a round golden locket. Seconds after he caught the object in his palm, he recognized what it was: a Time Turner. After a quick examination he noticed that one of the double rings was slightly bent. He sighed soundly his discomfort, that flaw would certainly prevent the clock from working properly. But then another realization struck him. What had happened to the owner of such unique hourglas, professor McGonagall?

He heard the sound of approaching footsteps becoming louder and louder, with an unnatural echo to them with each step. The blond quickly glanced over his shoulder and turned, holding his wand high, ready to strike.

"Hello son." That was no other but the voice of doom calling through the darkness, those two calm words penetrated Draco's chest like daggers.

Right then the blond Slytherin was nearly blinded by the sudden change from pitch black to bright white. He had to hold up one arm to cover his face. It took him a moment for his sore eyes to finally start to adjust but he didn't want to look up, once he did, Draco found himself face to face with a man he did not recognize at first, but it was him, his father, Lucius Malfoy.

As the darkness parted from the dark blue and silver elegantly dressed figure, Draco began to see that Lucius' eyes had lost all colours, his flesh had turned grey and the visible veins around his forehead seemed bloodless. His facial complexion denoted evident lines of cynicism and madness gained during his time serving at Azkaban. His appearance wasn't of a man fully alive, but still far from dying.

Draco was in shock, he barely managed to gasp one word. "No."

Visibly stunned, the blond stepped back, horrified as he started sweating and shivering, finding difficult to catch his breath.

Lucius looked at his son coldly, insolently and advanced. "Obedience without question, that's all I ever wanted from you, no more, no less. No matter what it took, what's important is the obedience to it, to pass the test, but you've failed. I'm very disappointed with you son, I'm very upset."

It took just one look from his father for Draco to revisit inside his head the genesis of his traumatic disturbances. He felt like a helpless child once again: a small and weak kid whose father demanded structure and discipline because nothing Draco did would ever please Lucius.

Draco swallowed hard and narrowed his eyes, his heart pounding in his throat. "I'll never be more than what I am. And you'll never see that, what I really am. That's your fault, not mine."

"Be careful with the things you say to me." There was a pissed expression on Lucius face.

Draco looked at Lucius in the eye, his father was still bigger than him, physically imposing and menacing. Next to his father, Draco looked helpless, hesitant, much more like a trapped animal, but that first impression didn't last long…after all appearances are deceiving.

Finding himself dangerously angry, Draco shot back. "All I've ever wanted was to live up to you. I would have done the unthinkable if you'd only loved me!"

Lucius reply came in the shape of a blazing stunning spell that sent Draco flying back against the wall and onto the floor. It was evident that the Blood-Replenishing Potion was taking longer than Draco expected for his sight kept switching in and out of focus and he still felt the weight of gravity pulling him down.

"You've always been too emotional, that's your biggest fault: you're weak." His father's harsh and mockingly acid words echoed distortedly inside Draco's head.

Refusing to succumb, Draco lifted himself painfully from the floor and shook his head in a silent "no".

After blinking a couple of times, in a desperate attempt to clear his vision field, Draco walked slowly but determined towards his father. "It's easier to beat a child than it is to raise it, right _father_? Hell, love costs: it takes effort and work!"

"Don't get me wrong, you're everything to me son." Lucius then grasped his son's throat with one of his sick pale hands and added. "I see you've changed, you look different. Your eyes…"

Lucius paused, thinking and leaned closer. He could have sworn he saw Draco's smoke grey eyes switched into amethyst blue for a slip second. No, that was impossible.

Still unsure regarding what had witnessed, Lucius threw Draco against a display cabinet, glass splinters smashed everywhere.

"Your eyes, they are full of so much…hate. That's good." Lucius said and grinned hideously.

An invisible fist clenched around Draco's heart as memories cascaded through his mind. "Hate keeps a man alive, it grants strength. I've learn that from you." The young Slytherin finished, brushing the glass from his clothes.

"You still wake up sometimes, don't you? You wake up in the dark and hear the screaming of your mother." Lucius said, verbalizing what Draco didn't want to admit.

Draco closed shut his eyes as the pain of the grief and rage crushed him completely. Even after all that time, he couldn't remember his mother's laughter without remembering her screams blended with his own helpless, tortured shouts.

Taking a step back, Lucius looked slightly surprised. "Don't tell me you still think you could have saved her from her fate?"

The blond nodded, knowing it was useless to lie as he got angrier by the minute. "I kept my word and accepted to take the Dark Lord's mark with the promise you wouldn't hurt mother again. Still after what I've done for you, you've chained me and locked me up in a cell, like an animal, with nothing to drink or eat for days and then forced me to watch you beating mother to death!"

In a desperate attempt to narrow again the distance with his son, Lucius held tight Draco's right arm and pulled him towards him, caressing that sculpted jaw with the tip of his cane. "For years your mother filled you with lies and made you hate me. She turned you against me, my only son and heir! You can't blame me for wanting to keep the family united."

Breathless, frantic with rage, Draco clenched his teeth. "What _family_? We were never a family!"

Draco's pupils dilated, he could only stare at it, coming at him. Lucius smacked him hard across the face with the snakehead shaft of his walking stick. Draco's face screwed up, taking the blow that knocked him off balance, making him fall to his knees.

Grabbing him by the collar, Lucius picked Draco up from the floor seconds before his body could hit the ground.

Leaning close, he hissed. "I know what happened between you and the Dark Lord. The first thing I did once I escaped Azkaban was to beg for His mercy and plead for your life. You know I've got your best interest at heart, don't you?"

Blood started to fall off Draco's half closed mouth after he jerked awake in pain. He was feeling really dazed. He rolled his sore eyes trying to clear his head as he felt his father's arms wrapping him tight, pulling him up to his feet.

"You've got a sick way of showing how much you care about me." Draco said, chocking with his own blood.

"I'll always be your father." Lucius seemed to fall deep in thought as he released Draco immediately and pushed him against the wall that served the battered blond as much-needed support.

Draco's foggy bluish-gray eyes narrow. "And the devil that haunted me since the day I was born."

"Soon you'll realize that everything I've done was for your own good." Lucius replied coldly.

Draco was undergoing a tremendous emotional stress by then as he burst into a hysterical laughter. "Don't back up every atrocious thing you've done to me under the guides of mentorship!"

He then looked from above Lucius' shoulder, noticing for the first time the presence of other Death Eaters and their prisoners: no other than Hogwarts' four Head of Houses and its Headmaster. Draco froze, he found himself outnumbered and cornered.

Approaching Dumbledore with resolved and cold impunity, Lucius spoke again, fixing his stare on Draco. "Your time couldn't be perfect son: you're going to see a man getting killed. I want you to watch him suffer, watch him die."

Dumbledore was on the floor, convulsing pathetically, it was clear that he'd been viciously tortured moments earlier. But what caught the attention of Draco was the crawling dark sickness coming from one of the old man's bare arms. Only Dark Magic could inflict such decay, and it looked fatally serious.

"Please…no more…please…kill me." Dumbledore begged staring at the nothingness with unfocused eyes.

From where he was positioned, guarded between two giant-built Death Eaters, Snape watched from the corner of his eye as Draco stared silently at his father for a long moment. Nearly a minute passed with no words said.

His Head of House piercing stare was like a wake up call for Draco; the blond took the situation all in, smirking to himself. _"__What's the good of having a brain if you won't use it? The mind plays tricks on you. You play tricks back!__"_

Something was going to break soon and the worst-case scenario equaled massive bloodshed. Draco knew that after killing Dumbledore, the rest of the hostages would follow the same fatal destiny: Snape included. He just wouldn't allow that to happen.

The next thing that came into Draco's mind was to throw a series of unpredictable moves so that nobody would be able to predict his next course of action and intimidate his father at the same time, turning him into an easy prey.

Resolved and determined, the blond Slytherin pushed himself from the wall and took place between his father and his Headmaster and returned the stare.

Draco's jaw muscles flexed. "He's imploring you to kill him, to put him out of his misery…like a wounded creature willing to be slaughtered. Tell me, _father_, since when you became such a merciful man?"

"Do you enjoy provoking me?" The tone in Lucius' voice barely masked his burning frustration. "You think you're smarter than I am?!"

Draco didn't pay attention to the sweat running down his forehead. "No, I'm not. Trouble is you're insane."

"It's time to prove yourself to me. Do it. Kill him." Lucius ordered Draco with a morbid grin.

The bond took a deep breath and forced himself to speak his next words. "Death shouldn't be painless. This pathetic old man is suffering because he's alive. If I kill him, I'll be doing him a favour. I refuse to be his saviour."

Lucius smiled a cold, meaningless smile. "Okay then, we are not merciful men, but I know someone who definitely is. Severus, kill Dumbledore."

Snape nodded and took a step forward, adapting to the requirements of the moment, after all he was a spy and that was a defining moment.

"Please, Severus, kill me." The old man begged once more, this time looking intently at Snape.

Without moving from where he was standing, between his Head of House and Dumbledore, the blond Slytherin cursed silently at the sudden change of scenario_. _

"_I'm Draco's cold sweat."_

Snape looked from Draco to Dumbledore and back to Draco clenching tight his wand with a shaky pulse. Draco sank his foggy amethyst blue eyes in the black depths of his Head of House's eyes and read his resolution: Snape was willing to kill Dumbledore at all cost!

Taking another step closer, visibly blocking the way for Snape to cast the killing curse, Draco raised his voice. "Professor, remember that acts of mercy are never rewarded but condemned."

"Severus!" Dumbledore chocked with what seemed to be his last breath.

Draco finally turned his head to face Dumbledore and smirked coldly. "Good things come to those who wait old man. Aeris Contamino!"

And soon after Draco finished the words, a thick wall of fog filled the entire room. Without waiting another second, the blond ran towards Snape, pinning the man against the wall.

"Malfoy, do you realize what you're risking here by doing what you've just done?!" He looked at Draco completely enraged, waiting for an answer.

Snape could read Draco's confusion in his face, seemed that the blond was no longer able to maintain his usual cold and indifferent mask.

"I'm not a figure-as-I-go kind of person, but taking into account that time is not exactly on my side, I had to improvise." Shaking, he caged Snape's head between his hands, his fingers were trembling. "Right now I'm sure of one thing: I won't let you ruin your life more than you've already had."

Snape's expression didn't change. "I owe that much to Dumbledore."

"No, you don't!" Draco swallowed painfully, easing the growing lump on his throat. "You're forgetting something much more important here: Hogwarts needs you, _I _need you!"

His ink-black eyes met his student's pleading stare without blinking. It was now time for Snape to break down the walls that had kept for so long. "I'm…not…worthy."

"Yes, you are! You're worthy enough to be saved, you're worthy of that and a lot more if you just give yourself a chance!" Draco protested feeling suddenly angry with him.

Fighting the tears from surfacing, the young Slytherin started to shake slightly; he clenched both hands on his Head of House shoulders as he opened up his heart for the first time.

"You've guided me, advised me and supported me through all this years like no other. Thanks to you I've realized what it's like to have a _real _father." Draco barely managed to say as his gut twisted with angst.

Snape cheeks flamed and immediately felt like wanting to smile; he couldn't believe what he was hearing. After such confession, Draco never imagined feeling that relieved, as if a heavy weight had vanished all of the sudden from his shoulders.

Looking back at Snape, Draco smirked in a way the elder Slytherin took way too long to read this time.

"Auroro!" Draco's bewitched sleep spell made Snape dropped to the floor, unconscious.

Immediately after that, Draco's facial features hardened, the smoke curtain was almost gone by then. His head snapped up to focus on something coming right back at him at full speed, it was Lucius and he looked more enraged and pissed than ever.

"Crucio!" He yelled and the imminent excruciating spell struck Draco's body with a piercing, maddening pain.

Draco's insides twist in agony, but seconds after that he felt as if his body was shutting down the pain. Then, in a bizarre turn of events, the urge to laugh almost overwhelmed him but he was far from feeling happy, and beyond feeling angry he felt…nothing.

"Sectumsempra!" Lucius roared without giving himself time to breath, aiming his wand towards his son after he saw the blond slowly picking himself from the floor.

But the way Lucius cast that spell was so powerful that the moment it hit Draco it not only slashed him but threw him against the opposite wall as well.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Lucius asked waving his wand in the air.

"Breathing." The blond whispered with irony rolling over onto his back.

Lucius stepped closer to Draco and kneeled by his side.

Draco's face was completely covered with blood; there was a nasty deep cut across his forehead that missed by mere an inch to touch his left eye. "Come on _father_, show me how much you love me."

"I'm not going to kill you." He replied reading through his son's acid humor.

Draco's black shirt was all in shreds by then, revealing the t-shirt underneath which was originally was white turned then into a blood-red striped one.

"I'm not even good enough for you to kill me, is that it?" He asked incredulously as he got rid of his shirt and his body arched backwards stifling a sudden bolt of pain blended with a rush of adrenaline.

Seemed that for a fraction of second Lucius didn't like seeing his son this way, all hurt and bruised. "Draco, I'm not your enemy, I'm your father."

"I never saw the distinction between the two." Draco sentenced wiping the blood of his face with the useless shirt.

Picking up the wand that laid on the floor next to his son, Lucius grinned. "This was mine, you've been using it."

"A man can't deny his true nature, can he?" His voice was low. Draco didn't even realize he was talking those words out loud.

"Now you're finally talking like my son. Keep it, I've found the perfect replacement." Lucius said holding the wand that he managed to retrieve from Dumbledore: the Elder Wand.

With a crushing sound, Rodolphus Lestrange apparated in the middle of the room holding a tied-up young man by the collar.

After hearing what his brother-in-law have just said, he allowed a growl to roll up from his throat. "Not so fast Lucius! You've got to handle that wand to the Dark Lord."

Lucius' cold gray eyes watched Lestrange without blinking. "Yes, I do remember my part of the deal."

"Then why is Dumbledore still alive?" He shot back throwing his prey to the floor.

The moment Draco set eyes on that tied-up figure lying on the floor everything around him turned the volume down and got out of focus. A cold sweat threatened again to break out over his entire body.

But the blond Slytherin had a heavy competition against the air his lungs were desperately gasping and his desperation to get up from the floor and run towards that person. "Blaise!"

Relief almost broke Draco the moment his friend jerked awake after hearing him calling out his name. Blaise was alive but he could barely have any breath left for words as he struggled without success to free himself from his restraints.

"This one was playing the hero, because of him the entire student body from the Ravenclaw's Tower managed to escape." Lestrange pointed accusingly at Blaise. "But I've taught him a lesson or two." He grinned viciously.

Blaise sit up on the floor very slowly, gazing with slightly unfocused eyes at his surrounding, searching for the exact spot he heard Draco's voice coming from. And the moment he caught sight of his blond friend, he couldn't stop screaming out his rage and impotence out loud: Draco looked like he'd just been butchered by a soulless beast.

Draco's reassuring smirk silently told his friend that he was okay, well, at least still alive and most importantly grateful to Blaise who had kept his promise to protect Luna even thought he contradicted his warning about not playing the hero.

Blaise was trying harder to wrench free, but kept stumbling on the floor, his battered body was spasming.

"Ravenclaws?" Lucius then turned to face Blaise, repairing on the embroidered crest of his uniform sweater, he added mockingly. "Playing for other House team, Slytherin boy?"

Blaise shook his head, never taking his eyes from Lucius as he continued his feverish struggle to set himself free.

"Anyway, our target was Gryffindor. Did you manage to get Potter?" Lucius asked arching a sceptic eyebrow.

Rodolphus stared at Lucius for a long, icy moment then dropped his gaze to the floor. "He's not in the Castle."

Draco looked at his tied-up friend desperately trying to wrench free and he realized he had to do something fast. And right then, the door of the Astronomy classroom opened wide and a group of members from the Order of the Phoenix stepped inside. That was his signal to set his plan in action.

"Impedimenta!" Draco yelled, knocking back both his uncle and father as he run towards Blaise.

Blasting spells and contra-spells filled the room in seconds. After releasing his friend from the binding spell, he wrapped him tight in his arms and lifted him up as if Blaise's solid and strong built body frame was feather-weight. Draco, able to block any jinx nonverbally, easily protected them both from the fierce battlefield as he carried Blaise to a rather safe corner of the room.

When he looked down and saw some of Blaise's blood on his own hands from the clench, desperation turned into a kind of numbed pain. "What have they done to you?!"

"Luna…she's safe…like I...promised." Blaise said between taking sound and deep breaths, his face was contorting with pain.

Brushing with one hand the black jet blocks from his friend's forehead, Draco whispered his building angst. "Thank you, brother. Look, we're going to make it, both of us, but you've got to hold on."

"I can't…I'm sorry…for disappointing you." Blood poured out his mouth as he spoke but his eyes widened when he looked up from the blonde's shoulder.

Spinning his head to the source of his friend's uneasiness, Draco got up immediately and placed himself in front of Blaise, shielding him with his slender body.

"Am I interrupting something here?" Rodolphus asked Draco, incredulously.

Draco's eyes got darker and enraged more than ever, they were sparkling with blazing vengeance. "Crucio!"

Leaning closer to the convulsed knot his uncle was now reduced to, Draco roared. "How dared you hurt him!"

Without looking up, feeling his father's presence getting closer, Draco cried out. "Protego Horribilis!"

Lucius didn't even bother to look at his brother-in-law crawling in pain on the floor as he fixed his stabbing grey eyes at his son. "I'm giving you one more chance, join me."

"The moment you decided to kill mother I swore I'd never be under your thumb again." Draco's tone was as sharp as a blade.

"Then I hope that's a decision you'll be able to live with. I'll find your weakness and turn it against you, son." Lucius' eyes held a cold promise.

"Nullevanesco!" But Lucius was long gone before Draco could finish casting the anti-disapparition jinx.

Returning his attention to his uncle, Draco noticed that he had also disappeared from sight. Once he spun to check up on Blaise, he collided mid-way against some invisible object.

"Potter!?" Draco gasped, removing the invisibility cloak from the Gryffindor.

But Harry didn't pronounce a word and blinked stupidly at something a couple of steps behind Draco.

"Why... so... serious?" The Slytherin slowly turned round, following Harry's gaze.

Draco then entered into a state of shock, walking unfocused several steps towards Blaise, finally, simply, he dropped to his knees mere inches from his friend lifeless body.

"No, not Blaise. He can't be dead." His voice was so desperate, so completely out of character.

Draco's eyes were suddenly full of such anguish that it was a physical ache. This was too much, he couldn't deal with this. It was as simple as that. He could not deal with this! He closed shut his eyes, on the outside he looked impassive, while inside him Hell broke loose.

Harry noticed that a strange vibration shook the floor. There was a humming, crisp and sharp noise emanating from the walls as everything in the room started to tumble down around him.

Then Draco let out the most terrible, agonized, heart-wrenching scream, sobbing loudly, his arms holding tight the dead body of his best friend, rocking him back and forth.

As his erratic breathing somehow steadied by itself and he regained the control of his senses, Draco stood up and moved faster than he thought he could move, dashing full speed through the corridor, chasing after his uncle, knocking some of members of the Order out of his way.

"MOVE!" Draco shouted at Mad Eye.

The Slytherin could have swore that he used both his hands to push the old man away from his path, but he actually experienced a strange momentary loss of muscular coordination along with a sudden rush of energy flowing through every inch of his body. Before Mad Eye's magical eye saw it coming, a devastating magic force – that didn't exactly came out from Draco's wand - knocked him to hitting his head against the wall.

When Draco caught sight of Rodolphus, he threw himself over him.

"You're going to pay for killing my brother!" Draco spoke accusingly as he disarmed him and threw his uncle against the wall. Casting the Cruciatus Curse once more, the blond rendered the man onto the floor.

Becoming a little hysterical, and wanting to inflict as much pain as possible to his uncle, Draco started to kick him fully in the mouth. "I'm going to make you suffer. Do you hear me, fucker?!"

"Expelliarmus!" Someone from the Order shouted as a hand clenched on Draco's forearm, it was Remus Lupin. "Easy boy, let us take it from here."

Draco froze. He lowered his head to the floor, shaking it slightly from side to side, realizing that his hand held his wand no more. "This is a _family_ matter. To intervene will bring you nothing but trouble."

"Damn it all to Hell!" Releasing himself abruptly from his Lupin's grip, Draco grabbed Rodolphus by the collar, hauled him to his feet and punched him, sending him flying back across the corridor, hitting against a mirror as countless of small pieces of glass flied though the air and onto the floor.

"Incarcerous!" Lupin shouted this time.

But Draco was way too fast, he moved like a lethal, incredible agile feline and easily avoided getting caught by the restraining spell. Once he looked up and fixed back his enraged gaze at Lupin, Draco felt like smacking the hell out of his former professor too.

"You ain't gonna stop me!" Draco's voice was frantic, and hysterical and completely foreign to his character.

Taking advantage of the situation, Rodolphus caught sight from the corner of the eye of Hemione who was giving him her back as she finished stunting yet another Death Eater. He picked up a glass shard that fell when he broke the mirror, held it up and seized her from behind.

Returning his attention to his uncle, Draco yelled. "You, horseshit, threatening to take the life of that mudblood as if it were your great escape?!"

Hermione gasped and made gagging sounds as she tried to wrench free from Lestrange. More members of the Order then surrounded the scene, looking expectantly for any sign to step into such unusual confrontation between a nephew and his uncle.

"Release her, NOW!" Draco ordered, his voice holding the rough edge of a growl.

Rodophus' unfocused eyes looked lost, as if entering into a strange state of shock. He was pretty much acting as a marionette whose strings were in complete control of the blond Slytherin. To everybody's surprise, he pushed Hermione away from him without saying a word.

Draco munched between clenched teeth. "Want an easy way out of this? I'd suggest you better use that glass to cut your own throat because if you don't, I'm going to gut you myself!"

Rodolphus shook his head twice, as if to clear it, but he looked even more disorientated.

Draco started to laugh hysterically, closer at that point of breaking down mentally than ever before. "Hurry up and end your own misery, you worthless piece of shit!"

Looking visible confused and heavily injured, Rodolphus started to walk away from Draco and rested his back against the stairs banister.

"Yes, you do that. Go ahead, fucker. JUMP!" Draco's last word resounded on the corridor's walls like a thunder.

Seemed that the man couldn't stand on his feet much longer, his knees were faltering as his body jerked backwards and gravity did the rest.

Draco stopped by the broken banister and looked down at what was left of his uncle four floors down. "See you in Hell."

Quietly, as though cautiously approaching a dangerous animal, Hermione addressed Draco with grateful tears in her almond eyes.

"Malfoy, you've saved my life. Thank you!" She then started sniffling and breathing more heavily.

Draco recoiled as if being bitten by a venomous reptile the moment she caressed his cheek. "Don't you dare to touch me, filthy mudblood!"

"Easy boy, easy." Lupin soothed as he wrapped Draco's blood-drenched clothes with his own jacket.

"Stay away from me, all of you!" Draco warned, clenching from the jacket, wrapping himself tight with it as he summoned his wand and waved it menacingly.

The Slytherin then repaired on the puzzled faces of the rest of the people present around him, mostly Gryffindors and members of the Order, looking at him with wide-eyes. Draco looked bewildered and it was the first time they ever saw him acting that way.

Draco started to choke and sob simultaneously; his whole body was spasming violently. "I want…my brother…back."

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**A/N:**

**WARNING #1: **TO YOU, PRECIOUS SOULS WHO REVIEWED THIS FIC AND PRAISED IT FOR BEING _DARK_, LET ME TELL YOU THAT WHAT HAD HAPPENED SO FAR IS **NOTHING** IN COMPARISON WITH WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT.

**WARNING #2:** I'VE GOT BOTH RELIGIOUS AND EXISTENTIAL ISSUES THAT I'LL POUR DOWN IN THE NEXT UPDATES WITHOUT ANY KIND OF CENSORSHIP. YOU'RE ALL MATURE INDIVIDUALS, HANDLE THE CONTENT OF WHAT YOU'LL READ WITH CARE, BUT IF YOU DON'T, WELL...JUST LET ME KNOW HOW THAT WORKED OUT FOR YOU :P


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N:**

I guess I should have warned you about the death character part on the previous chapter, my bad.

And one more thing…_REVIEW AFTER READING! (Thanx!)_

**CHAPTER XXII**

"_The world is a vampire sent to drain, secret destroyers hold you up to the flames_

_And what do I get for my pain? Betrayed desires and a piece of the game._

_Even though I know, I suppose I'll show all my cool and cold-like old job._

_Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage_

_Then someone will say what is lost can never be saved._

_Now I'm naked, nothing but an animal, but can you fake it for just one more show?_

_And what do you want? I want to change…and what have you got when you feel the same?"_

_(SMASHING PUMPKINS – "__Bullet with Butterfly Wings__")_

Draco experienced more painful and devastating emotions in the space of the last few hours than he had in the rest of his lifetime combined, it terrified him. His eyes had all cried out to the point of blindness and his body was still fighting against those violent muscle spasms, tremors and an abnormal heart rhythm that threatened to consume the last bit of his strength.

With the passing of the minutes he felt a growing tiredness pulling him down. It was reflected in the bottomless dark light that sparkle in his amethyst blue eyes. They started to look as calm as the deepest ocean minutes after being shaken with the most devastating seaquake ever, now everything was starting to slow down inside him.

It would have been impossible for any human being to conceal such fractured psyche but for the time being an ice-cold practicality was the only way Draco could deal with such painful emotions. If there was one place he couldn't break down, it was here, at Dumbledore's office, sitting across Cornelius Fudge, Dolores Umbridge, Percy Weasley and Rita Skeeter. If they even suspected that there was something not quite right about him, then he might as well signed his own death sentence.

During the endless hearing, Draco looked icily controlled as he spoke with an inhumanly practical way, giving the impression he was the kind of man impossible to push to violence. None of the people present at such improvised meeting would believe he'd been crying, or that he had a single moment of weakness.

Fudge broke the silence, raising his voice, denoting the uneasiness in his tone. "We're still waiting for your answer, Mr. Malfoy."

Percy stopped writing abruptly and stared at Draco, the blond stared back at him for a long minute before returning his cold eyes on the minister. Was Draco trying to provoke a reaction from him? As Percy fixed his gaze on those incredible yet terrifying amethyst blue eyes, he wondered if the Slytherin had a soul after all, probably not.

The Gryffindor's eyes went wide as he watched a teasing smirk playfully curving the blonde's lips. Could the Slytherin managed to read people's thoughts just by looking at them? Hiding his terror, Percy looked down at the piece of paper he just finished writing and shrugged in his sit.

"I do apologize for that, but I was really thirsty." Draco excused himself after emptying the third glass of water in a row.

Since the hearing started, he'd already emptied two water jars without being able to quench his thirst. Then he passed one hand over his forehead, the nasty deep cut of Lucius' slashing curse was gone by then, only some dried blood stuck on his golden blocks evidenced the gore he suffered earlier. When he repaired on his hand, he swallowed hard, frighteningly aware that the trembling had started to show once again.

Draco immediately pocketed both hands inside the oversized and battered jacket he was wearing - the very same one Lupin gave him earlier – and shrugged inside it feeling his own blood drenched t-shirt beneath. The smell of blood all over him increased a sickening sensation in the pit of his stomach. An odd tension seemed to infiltrate the room, if he didn't get out of here soon, his physical deterioration would become impossible to hide.

Fudge's eyes narrowed against the stillness of his expression. "Aren't you going to answer the question? We still need to clear this one last matter."

Draco's gut twisted, he had the feeling he was being used as a pawn in a game for which he had been unscrupulously forced to play and wasn't at all sure he could win even if he did a checkmate.

Leaning back on his chair, wrapping himself tighter inside Lupin's jacket to cover the tainted blood beneath it, Draco made his words completely toneless. "I've already answered it. As a matter of fact I've answered _all_ your questions."

Umbridge tapped at the side of her head with a finger. "Yes and very vaguely. You're not being honest. I think you're merely telling us what you think we wish to hear."

Draco arched an amused eyebrow. "There's only one way to know if a man is honest, just ask him. If he says _yes_…he must be crooked." He concluded shrugging.

She took the lead once more and hushed Fudge before he could speak. "Your answers only opened doors to more doubts, my dear boy."

That jacket wasn't the only thing wrapping Draco around like armor; it was his ice-cold tone the one that felt like steel. "Then I recommend you to be more specific with the charges I'm being accused of ma'am, because I don't understand what you're asking me."

"We're talking about you performing Unforgivable Curses on Rodolphus Lestrange without using your wand! What did you do?!" Patience was almost gone in Fudge.

Draco stared at him for a second before replying. "Did you know that you can profit a lot more from people's reactions if you just take the time to ask them _nicely _what you want from them?" More like a reply, it sounded like an indirect. "Well, that's exactly what I did. I talked to my uncle and explained his _tragic _situation."

Furge's eyes watched the blond without blinking. "So, you're confessing you force your uncle to jump!"

Draco's vision was beginning to blur at that stage and he could feel his heartbeat stopping and starting in a ragged rhythm that scared him.

He closed shut his eyes for a brief moment. "That man took away something precious from me."

By the time Draco opened them, his eyes were cold as ice, haunted by endless darkness. "When Lestrange realized that it was impossible for him to retrieve what he took from me, he chose an easy and most cowardly way out to settle his debt."

Rubbing his eyes, the old man spoke again, this time the tone in his voice was a tired one. "Please answer the question, Mr. Malfoy."

Draco shifted in his seat; he wasn't one to keep silent after all. "Again, minister, I most humbly provided you my answer. A man in your position should have learned by now how to sharp his listening skills otherwise you'll jeopardize your position at the Ministry of Magic."

Umbridge searched Draco's face for an answer to the puzzle of him. "Did you cast a wandless Imperius Curse to Lestrange and forced him to jump?"

At last, she had formulated him a question, and a direct one, there was no escape now, unless...

"Ma'am, you're implying I'm capable of doing something that not even the most powerful wizard in history would be able to pull through?"

"_Checkmate__." _Draco said to himself, smirking bitterly.

"This hearing is cancelled!" Someone shouted as the door blasted open and Remus Lupin, Mad Eye Moodie and Severus Snape silhouettes came into view.

Lifting from her seat, Umbridge face the three men with her scolding bossy tone. "You haven't got the right to be in here!"

Mad Eye's magical eye twisted in his socket. "As Auror and member of the Order of the Phoenix, along with professor Snape and Lupin, we are here in defense of Mr. Malfoy. Anything he might have said in this hearing of doubtful, not to mention illegal nature will be void."

Lupin approached Rita with a dark and determined look and retrieved every possible quill, notepad and parchment from her side as Snape stamped his fist over the hearing's recorded parchment, tearing it in pieces.

The elder Slytherin then looked at Fudge in the eye. "You've forced a student of mine to take Veritaserum and endure endless hours of questioning!? I demand him to be released immediately!"

Fudge returned the stare and frowned. "As long as Dumbledore continue to fight for his life back at St. Mungos, your position as Headmaster of Hogwarts is on hold and being reviewed by the Ministry. Don't start taking powers you still don't possess that lightly, Severus."

Crossing his arms, Snape leaned closer to the minister. "Let me remind you that I'm still Head of Slytherin and this student is member of my House!"

Blocking Snape's way to Draco, Umbridge shot back. "We were just determining the danger that represents to release someone like Draco Malfoy."

Lupin chose that moment to speak. "He saved the life of the four Head of Houses, of Dumbledore and of the students at Hogwarts! If it weren't for him, we'll be talking about thousands of dead people instead of the reduced number of losses that can be counted with just one hand!"

"May I go now?" Draco asked, but after pushing back his chair he noticed that his hands were trembling uncontrollably by then and he could no longer ignore the muscle spasms in his legs.

"Yes." Mad Eye replied without removing his magical eye from the blond.

"I'd like my wand back." Draco asked Umbridge while fighting a crawling nausea.

Trying not to smile, she coughed quietly. "You mean your _father's_ wand."

"I meant what I've said." There was no inflection in Draco's voice as he pocketed it in his pants.

Rita then looked at Draco for a long moment. "I bet there's more behind that enviable and enigmatic image of yours. You're more than you appear, aren't you?"

Draco held up his breath, cursing silently. Stupid serum, would people just stop asking him questions? "You shouldn't place too much emphasis on looks. It's the character of the man what really counts, ma'am."

She stopped him right when he was about to exit. "I'd like to have an interview with you, just the two of us."

Trained to recognize the enemy's flaws so he could channel and direct them in his favor, Draco took a closer look at her and shrugged. "I'd question your integrity, but...oh right…you're from The Daily Prophet!"

Visible hurt by his comment, Rita forced a fake smile. "I though you'd be delighted with the idea of showing the world the kind of hero you truly are."

Draco smirked in a flirtatious way that almost brought her to her knees. "Most people might find flattering to be the object of so much attention, but you and I both know I'm not like most people."

"You prefer granting the exclusive again to The Quibbler?! That magazine can't be taken as serious media because...well…it's _odd_!" She spoke out loud with exasperation.

He kept his tone silky smooth as he brushed his lips against her cheek. "And I'm bizarre."

Rita froze the instant Draco's hot breath touched her, but almost immediately her shock turned to uneasiness as she couldn't keep the blushing in her cheeks from surfacing. In an effort to hide her reaction, she looked down and stepped away.

"Once again, a Malfoy snake manages to slither away from the grip of justice." Percy's voice was low and a little rough. "I'll be keeping an eye on you. I'll follow your every move."

Without even looking at him, Draco rolled his eyes and shot back mockingly. "Looking for an excuse to stalk me, nancy-boy?"

Percy got immediately annoyed as he spit out his next words. "Be careful, next time you won't be able to fool anyone. Don't push your luck."

When he finally turned to glance at Percy, Draco smirked in a cold, clinical and merciless way. "You don't give me warnings, I give them to you, remember, because I can back mine up."

llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

The moment Draco closed his prefect's dorm door shut behind him, he felt a strange numbing sensation running through his bloodstream that almost made him stumble to the floor. Swallowing hard, he dragged his feet towards the bed but made it half way as he caught his reflection in the mirror that hung beside him. His physical masks were holding no more, as the mental ones were non-existent by then. His face was flushed as if with fever and his eyes…he shook his head. No. With what was left of his strength, he punched the mirror with both hands and rested his forehead on it, breathing slowly as blood trickled from his hands onto the carpet's floor.

"_Blaise__, why it had to be you?"_ He closed his eyes for a moment; his mind was full of images of death. His breath came out in a gasp as he allowed his mind to cascade with all the emotions he'd had to bury during the hearing.

"_There are two kinds of pain. The one that's outside the body: cuts, broken bones, bruises…once you learn to ignore them, they'd soon disappear. But the other, the kind that nests inside you: loss, grief, vengeance… you can't run and hide from them because sooner or later they'll find you." _Snape's words echoed inside his skull gaining volume shortly before he collapsed onto the floor.

Draco jerked awake a couple of hours later and painfully got rid of his soaked-blood clothes. He then dragged his tired, still injured and bruised naked body to the bathroom and started the water running on the shower. Once in the bathtub, he crawled into a tight knot, feeling the warm water slowly waking him up, washing all the blood away and caressing softly both his physical and psychic wounds.

When Draco finished pulling up his pants, he realized that the waist-band fitted very loosely and right after he took a step forward to retrieve a clean shirt from his wardrobe, the pants literally fell to his knees. He hadn't noticed earlier, but the last couple of days he'd lost an incredible amount of weight. Taking into account that he'd been always of a very slender frame, he was starting to resemble a living skeleton. His physical image now matched the one of his soul: he was nothing but an empty shell. He cursed under his breath for being so careless about his own health and summoned his wand to shrink the rest of his clothes so that he could fit in them.

Fully clothed with a gray t-shirt under his dark blue pullover and marching color pants, he took sit on his desk and started writing a letter addressed to Xenophilius Lovegood, his father-in-law, with detailed instructions regarding Luna's future and most important all the measures necessary to guarantee her safety. Then he sat back on the chair, unfocused as he re-read the lengthy letter over and over again, resolute in his decision. Minutes later he finished writing a second letter, addressed to Luna. Maybe some things should stay secret, there were some things people were better off not knowing about. But then again, he didn't want to lie to Luna but after everything that had happened in these past days, enough was enough. His life had gotten so screwed up. He had to put an end, once and for all, to everything but the last thing he wanted was to distress Luna even more.

From the open window came soaring a pearl white owl. Draco recognized it immediately: it was Blaise's pet, holding two letters tied with a silk ribbon.

The owl landed on top of Draco's bed as he folded and stretched those silk and smooth wings in a clear sign he wanted the blond to come to him. The Slytherin smirked to himself, that creature certainly knew how to tease, just like his master.

The moment he sat down on the bed, the owl nested in Draco's lap after handling over the mail. Caressing those smooth feathers with the back of his palm, Draco scanned the first letter. There were a few lines written, and they were from Blaise's mom:

_Dear Draco,_

_Before my son sneaked out from our new home in Greece and return to his life at Hogwarts, he left over his pillow two letters: one addressed to me and other for you. It's clear that his intention was for you to receive this letter in case something bad happened to him. _

_Yours,_

_Clarissa_

_PS: This afternoon I'll hold a memorial service for Blaise, I'd like you to come but I'd understand if you don't show up at all._

With shaky pulse, Draco held the other letter in his hand, the one that Blaise wrote to him, and broke the wax seal with his thumb. But it took him endless minutes to finally open it and got enough nerve to read its content. He knew once he finished reading, there was no turning back. He knew that Blaise was saying goodbye to him, forever, and he didn't want it to happen, but it was real and it was happening:

"_Draco, _

_If you're reading this means that you're still alive, so take a moment to enjoy that happy fact, will you? _

_I do believe there's a reason for everything and that we all have a purpose in life. __I'd always be grateful for having the opportunity to treasure such priceless gift as long as I could: your friendship. I'd like to flatter myself a little, so let me believe that I actually did a damn good job being your friend despite the fact that I'd never won your heart, but I guess I got pretty close. I even dare to say that you always cared about me, in your own cold, reckless way._

_You can object what I've just wrote everything you want, but that would be useless for I won't be able to listen to you, not anymore, not at least while one is standing right on the opposite side of the veil: you're alive and I'm dead. _

_You probably__ won't accept the fact that I'm gone and you'll get mad with me and everyone around you. If you're feeling like that is because you are blaming yourself for being the one left behind: typical survivor's complex. There's always something to complain about, it's inherent in the human behavior, it's our birth right. So, you're pissed? Well then, psyche yourself up: curse, yell, jump, scream…break something! Are you feeling better now? Good, now move on! _

_We all make sacrifices, whether they're for the greater good, to cope with reality or to show the selfless fiber we're truly made of when confronting our weaknesses. I hope I've died saving your pathetic bony arse because that's the only way I'd accept to have leave this world for good._

_I admit that death is never fair and it's okay to feel angry, but don't let that feeling low your guard or make you lose perspective of what's in front of you, not even for a split second. Let every experience you confront in life strengthen your character; don't let them trim your spirit. _

_You've got to learn, once and for all, to stop looking at the past. Focus instead on everything you've achieved so far, and what get you to where you're standing today._

_All the tears in the world aren't going to bring me back, so stop whining right now or you'll wrinkle that gorgeous face of yours and I definitely don't want that to happen._

_Always yours,_

_Blaise_

Draco almost choked himself with soundly sobs before starting to cry uncontrollably. He knew he was on the verge of a major breakdown, yet another one. He had never felt so alone, figuratively and literally. He found himself desperately in need of his one true friend, the one he could confide in, the only one he could go to for advice whenever he felt down, but Blaise was gone and he was alone. As sadness sank inside his heart, he realized it had always been like that, he was destined to feel miserable, doomed to see the few people he loved die in front of his eyes. He'd lost his mother before and now his only friend. Such abysmal sense of loss would never be able to be filled again.

A familiar scent brought Draco back to his senses. He didn't have to turn to know that Luna was behind that door, he could smell her. Without waiting for an answer she opened it and took a step into the room, closing the door shut behind her, resting her back against it.

When Draco turned round, after a heavy sigh, he leaned back his chair and stared blankly at her trying to think of something to say but couldn't form the words.

Luna looked at him in silence, his eyes were a pallid gray shade of blue and they were heavily swollen: looked like they would never be able to produce more tears than already had. It was evident that Draco was immersed in a deep state of melancholia.

There was a moment of electric silence, weighted with all the things neither of them had been able to say to each other in the last couple of days. But as she locked her pleading pearl grey eyes at him, Draco's head was suddenly filled with a strident and powerful high-pitch noise that sounded as a heartbeat's drumming reverb effect. What Luna was doing to him felt as if his insides were ripping one by one.

He looked at Luna completely perplexed at fist, but as he tried to hide his pain away from her, he found himself being sustained by pure hate.

"Satis! (i)" Draco forcefully free himself from their connection and fell from his sit, collapsing onto the floor.

He got up fast and once he turned to her, smirking coldly, his emotional turmoil of the past minutes was completely set aside. "Congratulations Luna. You've built perfectly your psychic self-defence against me. I get the point…at last: you can't stand the sight of me!"

Luna broke down and cried uncontrollably, covering her face in her hands as tears started running down her cheeks.

"We're even sweetheart, you've hurt me as well, in fact you've destroyed me! The difference is that when I saved you…when _broke_ you…it was to bring us back together for good. But when you ran away, you've just tore us apart." Draco's voice was raw, his fists clenched so tight that the tendons in his neck stood out.

He instantly regretted having raised his voice and added. "I should never come here. Because of me my only friend is dead."

Luna forced herself to speak up the words to Draco. "He didn't die because of you, he died _for _you."

_"_If he weren't my friend he'd be alive today. I did this to him. I'm the sole responsible for his death." Draco said speaking out loud his mind.

Taking a step closer, Luna nodded. "I know the feeling. Last year I almost died in the Department of Mysteries because I was helping Harry, and he never forgave himself for that. But if the moment comes again and he needs my help, he knows I'll be there for him, whether he hates me for that or blames himself again."

"You care more about Potter than me." Draco paused, rubbing his forehead with his thumb and index finger while making a mental count-down to stop his temper from bursting with the flames of wrath. _"_Do you realize how _that _makes me feel?!"

"You and Harry got many things in common." She said, biting her lip.

Infuriated, Draco roared. "STOP INSULTING ME, DAMNIT!"

Luna closed shut her eyes and covered her face in her hands seconds after the mirror and potion flasks gathered on the corner of Draco's desk exploded sending countless splinters through the air. Luckily none got near them both, and that was because the Slytherin controlled his magic at the very last second.

"Please, Draco…I've meant it as compliment." She hissed.

Draco clenched his teeth and grabbed the letter he just wrote to her, tearing it up in pieces. "I was going to send you this letter, but since you're still here after Blaise saved your live so that you could return safely home - which I see you haven't - I'd rather speak everything I've got to say right in your face!"

"I did go to the Chateau, but you weren't there. Once I heard you were held up in the Castle because of the Ministry's inquiring regarding the events of last night, I came here immediately. I had to see you." She whispered trying to easy the pain that haunted her for seeing Draco in such state, her stomach was tied up in knots.

Luna ran to him and pressed Draco tightly against her body in a loving embrace, both were trembling with mixed emotions. "I'm sorry that you lost Blaise, I really am. But I'm also glad he's dead. I was…jealous of his friendship with you."

"I feel like I'm talking to a stranger." It took Draco every ounce of willpower to push her away from him.

Luna remained still, his words made her think, but her head was a complete mess.

She took a trembling breath. "I'm finally becoming who I'm supposed to be."

Draco touched her below her chin, lifting her reluctant gaze to meet him. "I see. You've turned yourself into a calculating woman who doesn't trust his own husband and keeps secrets from him. I wonder if you ever did trust me at all."

"You once told me that trust was a sign of weakness." She replied without looking at him in the eye.

He pushed her away from him with a single hand. "I never thought I'd regret the moment you'd start talking like a true Malfoy."

Luna took a step towards him, destroying that small bit of space between them, stopping mere inches from him.

Draco shook his head. "After what happened at St. Mungo's, the fist thing that stuck me every time I woke up beside you was the fear that some day you'll find out who I really am and you'll end up rejecting me." What followed was a painful harsh mocking tone in his voice. "Which you did, a month after I saved you. Let me tell you: that was fast!"

The dangerously narrow edge of his temper was visible in Draco's eyes.

"Luna, now that I got to see this side of you, I'm the one who's terrified." Draco finished, practically holding his breath.

He ran his hand down her face, causing Luna to close her eyes. "Ironic how we've ended up here, I have gone above and beyond for you, for us. You've make it clear that it's just no good enough for you, certainly not good enough for me either."

Luna opened her eyes as he took a step away from her. "Did you really mean what you've just said?"

Draco felt his heart stop racing as he said to himself. "_Everything means something else. It's the way the human psyche works."_

He hesitated, looking completely devastated. The Veritaserum was still in his system, so he had to find a way to cheat it. He couldn't even allow himself to think that what he was saying a lie, he had to believe absolutely in the things he was going to say - just like when he was at the hearing - and so he did.

"That's exactly what you expect me to say." He spoke as if in a daze, almost a whisper.

Luna considered Draco's words for a moment before saying. "Please don't lie to me."

Regaining some composure, Draco's voice vibrated with anger but he wasn't completely out of control, yet. "Then the answer must have gotten lost in that dark abyss we call my soul."

She was about to burst into tears, sobbing and clutching from his collar. "Draco, I want us to be together. I love you."

His heart thudded against its cage, and a knot of emotion formed in his throat. "That's a great line, sweetheart. But how can you possible feel that way for me if you don't even _trust_ me?"

"I do love you and you've got to believe me." She murmured, wrapping her hands on the back of his neck, forcing him to look at her. "Why are you always refusing to look into my eyes when I say that I love you?"

He tilted his head to the side, feeling a painful headache coming up. "Because I'm afraid of what I might see reflected in them if I do."

Luna's voice cracked completely. "Do you want to kiss me?"

Draco wished the truth serum would be all gone by then as he considered such tentative question. He looked at her, dead serious, hushing her with a finger to her mouth. Letting it trail across her lips as he left her speechless.

"You need kissing, badly, but I'm not going to do it." He hissed with a thread of voice, so thin and fragile what if could vanish in seconds, like his diminishing self-control to melt her lips with his.

"Please let me stay close, here with you." Luna's pearl grey eyes glittered with tears.

He followed his urge to brush some of those dirty blond curls off her forehead and wiped those shameful tears from her cheeks before taking a couple of steps away from her.

"Luna, you'd have been more careful with what you've wished for because I've promised to give you _anything_ you wanted, even if that meant giving up the one thing I care about the most: you." Draco was experiencing about as much pain and suffering as anyone, giving or taking, could have ever imagined.

Finding his voice back, Draco spoke again. "I'm a man of my word. I'm setting you free of your _prison. _You can have a better life without me. If your true happiness implies giving up my feelings for you along with everything I am…I'd do it."

Luna wrapped her arms around herself. A kind of confused vulnerability swirled in her eyes. If Draco could ever teach his heart how to think, it'd stop beating right there and he'd drop dead.

Dragging his blurred amethyst eyes from the floor, he finally looked at her. "Last night's attack was nothing but the beginning of something several times worse. Now more than ever I welcome the challenge to put an end to this war because once I'm gone for good, you can live the life you so well deserve."

There was something heartbreakingly lonely in Draco's voice, something that made her think he'd just broke into a thousand pieces the moment he finished saying those words out loud.

"But Draco, what about the things _you_ deserve?" A haunting sorrow whispered through her tone.

"With the life I've led I always feared to get what I truly deserved and kept placing myself a step ahead from such dreadful things. But I'm tired of running and I won't hide anymore. This time, I'll get what I deserve, don't worry." Draco confessed. He still had Hell to look forward to in pursue of his death wish.

He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead in a gesture of enormous tenderness, a gesture of farewell leaving her completely breathlessly. "Goodbye Luna."

That was so unbelievably stunning coming from Draco's mouth that it hit Luna like a stab across her heart, he was finally giving up on her, on them both.

Draco waited by the door frame but Luna didn't spoke another word and that extinguished the last drop of hope left in him. She'd accepted his terms and something inside him wished she'd contradicted him, but she didn't. As he walked away from her, the sadness in his eyes turned instantly into a look of coldness and bitterness. That was it, he'd never look back.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

**A/N:**

Satis! (latin)- Enough!

Curse me, jinx me…do whatever you like with me after reading this chapter, but let me tell you one thing: **THIS FANFIC IS NOT OVER**! There are more chapters to come (I'd say another 8 or 9 more to call it quit). Let me remind you people this is a dark but also an angst story…Luna won't disappear in thin air (at least no _that _easily)…mmmmmkay?

:Rubbing hands, smirking maliciously: Now that Draco is literally balancing over the edge of the abyss I've got him where I wanted because…"_It's only after you've lost __everything __that __you're __free __to __do __anything__."_ (Fight Club much? Hell Yeah!!)

Again, a fair warning, this story is directed to mature readers only. As it reaches its end it will get sour and would be literally hard to digest for those naïve, innocent and easily manipulated young minds because the content of the upcoming chapters would be: **Breaking ****Taboos - Bending Moral Issues - Dark Magic & Alchemy **(Those with strong religious beliefs abstain yourselves from reading) – **Sex – Violence - Gore & Massacre** (Those with weak stomachs have been warned) – **Vengeance & Payback** (Committing the perfect crime _is _possible, read and learn how to get away with it!)


	23. Chapter 23

**CHAPTER XXIII**

_  
__"__Everybody's got their problems, everybody says the same things to you  
It's just a matter how you solve them and knowing how to change the things you've been through._

_I feel I've come to realize how fast life can be compromised  
Step back to see what's going on, I can't believe this happened to you._

_Knowing endless consequences I feel so useless in this  
Can't back, stand back, can't ask for me I can't believe._

_Part of me won't agree 'cause I don't know if this for sure  
Suddenly I don't feel so insecure anymore._

_Why do things that matter the most never end up being our choice?  
Now that I find no way so bad I don't think I knew what I had."_

_(SUM 41 – "__The Hell Song")_

His very own helplessness devastated Draco completely. He was furious at fate for not being able to protect and keep safe those he loved but vengeance had managed to cool the blazing anger inside him. Now Draco was growing harder and harder to reach, but that didn't mean he wasn't breakable.

His mind pounded with latent memories of what he'd heard back at the Room of Requirements the previous day:

"_The moment you detour someone's fate you contribute to cause a major change in the course of natural things, unleashing countless series of disastrous events."_

When his amethyst blue eyes finally opened, denoting an intensified shade of red on his former white orbs, he stared at the bended Time Turner - the one he found on the floor of the Astronomy classroom - and held it up for several minutes, remembering something Lucius said to him when he was still a child:

"_Every choice is a test, think carefully."_

A whisper of sound reached his ears the second before a hand fell on his shoulder. Draco looked up and saw the figure of Severus Snape standing right beside him. Those pitch-back eyes had such depth of emotion that Draco had never thought his Head of House was possible to express.

They look at each other for what seemed an eternal moment. The reigning grief re-built Draco's walls around him and it was going to take a lot of time for Snape to pull them down. The young Slytherin was visible unable to talk about what happened at the Astronomy Tower, at least not about the moment of truth they both shared.

"Even if that hourglass worked, what makes you think things would be different?" Snape kept his voice low, even though they were the only two in the room.

Containing his own emotions, Draco replied with a toneless voice. "I'd have my brother back. That would definitely change the way I'm seeing things right now."

Snape leaned closer. "The past can't be changed. Now you understand why Minerva refused to give it to you before?"

"I'm not a _reliable _person." Draco replied tightening the hourglass between his fingers.

The elder let go a dispiritedly sigh, squeezing the shoulder of his student. "Reflecting is never easy. It is easier to weep, also easier to get angry."

Draco brushed briefly his cold fingers over the man's hand before lifting from his sit. After pocketing McGonagall's gilt locket, the blond walked slowly towards the only window of his Head of House office and opened it.

"Looking out at the world from a window with a narrow view will tell you nothing." Snape lectured quietly using the most suitable metaphor for the occasion.

Draco exhaled soundly, clenching both fists against the window's frame. "Who gave the order to seal the chamber where lays Blaise?"

Snape's heart was breaking at the pain and anger he could feel coming off Draco. "I did. No-one can enter that place until his mother comes and picks up the body to prepare it for the memorial service."

He shook twice his head, stifling a sudden muscle ache on the back of his neck. "You have to let me see him."

The elder Slytherin frowned with a concerned look. "No."

"Why not?" Draco paused and pointed a finger in the air accusingly. "What are you hiding? You know it'd be better if I hear it coming from you than find out by myself."

It was a fair yet desperate warning. If Snape was indeed keeping something from him, Draco would be remotely content about it.

Snape let go a soundly sigh and looked down. "I'm doing this to protect you from yourself. You're in no condition to see his body."

"I have to, he needs me!" Draco tried to calm himself down a bit as the cold breeze and vivid sun rays bathed his face, he then focused his gaze on his empty hands. "I won't let anyone sink Blaise beneath the ground where it's forever dark."

"Malfoy, what are you implying?" The old man maintained a look of disbelief at the news he knew were coming.

Draco turned and faced his Head of House, his sore eyes were unreadable. "Shouldn't you know the answer to that, Sir?"

Snape looked at him for another long moment. "I do." Pausing, he took a careful breath. "That's the problem."

The light in Draco's eyes flickered in a way Snape found disturbing. "In the absence of justice, anything is fair."

He frowned, as he took sit behind his desk, facing Draco. "Good intentions pave the way to Hell."

Closing his eyes, Draco went inside his mind and spoke it out loud. "Good and evil, both principles automatically imply the other. Each creates the other's possibilities."

"Please take a moment to think and evaluate what you're about to do." The elder Slytherin said with a reasoning tone in his voice.

But Draco raised a hand, stopping him from continuing the preaching as he took sit. "Intelligence, logic and reason do not decide the issue: they simply exploit or direct it."

"LIFE CAN'T BE BROUGHT BACK!" The anger in Snape's voice rose to such alarming level that both Slytherins looked astonished at each other for about a whole minute without speaking a single word.

Draco was about to open his mouth when a pearl white owl flied above him and landed over his lap, cuddling itself without even waiting for an invitation.

Lifting from his chair, Snape ducked his head to a side and stared at the owl with a clinical eye. "That's an unusual pattern for an owl. _Strange_ I dare say taking into account it's not yours."

The blond couldn't help but petting the creature with both admiration and wonder. "This is Lex, Blaise's owl, without a doubt he's different from the rest of his species. These creatures literally tend to disappear after the death of the person who served, because…well…they are no longer _owned _animals. I mean, with the death of their masters, they are free of all their duties towards them, right?"

Draco then lifted his sore gaze, arching an amused eyebrow. "This is the sign I've been waiting for you to understand me. Lex and I, we both know that Blaise is just in deep sleep, defying death as we speak. Can you see it now, Sir?"

Snape looked beyond worried. He couldn't let his student pursue such course of action. "Malfoy, get ahold of yourself otherwise you're going to lose more than your friend: you're going to lose your sanity as well."

Draco felt his muscles lock. "I'm not crazy."

"When you love somebody, really love them, you know when you've lost them." Snape's voice cracked with the memory of the only woman he ever loved: Lily Evans.

Draco's expression seemed to be in control, but there was something piercing about the quality of his gaze. "That's exactly why I know that I haven't lost my brother."

Snape sighed soundly: it was obvious that Draco wasn't listening to reason. "Until you learn how to stand steadily on something with spiritual solidity, you shall never get anywhere making much sense, you won't even recognize yourself."

Draco tried not to let his turbulent emotions filter through his voice, but it was impossible. "My faith was shaken to its foundation long time ago. What came after that became a pushover in favor of what I'm becoming."

Fearing that tone in his student, Snape spoke without lifting his eyes from his desk. "It's always wise to know one's enemy, whether this is another individual or, worst of all, part of oneself."

Draco looked like he wanted to smirk but didn't quite know how to pull it off inside that stone mask. "I can't pretend to be someone I'm not. I can't deny I'm my father's son."

Snape looked shocked and devastated, Draco's words made lost his focus for a moment. "You're willing to become everything you hate and are against then?"

"I'd like to keep my mind open to extreme possibilities." Draco confessed and made a pause that hummed with anger. "But there's this part inside me, the one that belongs to Luna, that keeps pushing down the darkness from surfacing."

The elder Slytherin arched an eyebrow. "If you were to lose that, your soul would follow a tragic path."

"She was the one who saved me from myself, I know that now but…" Draco fixed his gaze at the floor before continuing. "…if she's indeed my saviour, that means I'm her executioner."

Snape looked up. "That's why you took the decision to let her go?"

Draco nodded, fighting against the tight knot in his throat. "I love her too much to watch her suffer because of my own selfishness."

The elder Slytherin struggled to keep the anger from trimming the tone of his voice. "You're then aware of the price you've got to pay so that Lovegood can be free from your bond?"

"Yes." But then Draco lifted his sore amethyst blue eyes and asked. "Luna and I haven't been fated to be together, have we?"

The elder Slytherin refused to meet Draco's eyes. "You've been fighting against your destiny since the day your mother was killed. Why all of a sudden you'd be willing to let yourself be guided by what's been written on the stars?"

Draco smirked in a nervous way. He rubbed his eyes and sighed soundly.

"Sir, you've once told me to start always with the end in mind. I'm not afraid of dying." The blond said with an ice-cold manner, there was not a single trace of fear in his words.

Those ink-black eyes burned like incandescent coals. "Don't take life or death for granted, you'd never be able to commit yourself into doing anything unless you've learn to appreciate and weight both their values!"

"I've already made my mind. I'd trade my life in order to save both Luna and Blaise. It's a fair exchange." Draco lifted himself from his sit, managed a tight nod and walked towards the door.

A sudden burning puncture made Snape clench his chest with one hand. "No, it's _not_!"

"I shouldn't have allowed myself to love at all." Draco paused, grabbing the door knob tight. He squeezed shut his eyes for a brief moment before adding. "This is my atonement."

And with that Draco slammed the door shut behind him.

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Clarissa, Blaise's mother, was a tall and remarkably beautiful woman, no wonder where Blaise's perfect genes were inherited from. Her ink-black waist-length hair framed exquisitely her ebony slender silhouette. The ethereal fabric of her dress looked like a second skin revealing the dangerous and sensual curves of her body. As soon as people stepped inside the small stone-built temple to attend Blaise's Memorial, both men and women looked at her with lustful and envious eyes as if she were the embodiment of evil, perhaps she was.

Ironically, the mourning and grief suited her like no other, she looked half her age and the sorrow for his son's lost only turned her more desirable. Any man would literally kill to give her a shoulder to cry over and the occasion was perfect for such crime since there was no competition ahead: there were no signs of her latest husband.

Her deep shade of green eyes darted past all the faces in front of her without paying any attention whatsoever. The place was already filled but she never felt lonelier. The moment she caught sight of the one person she'd been waiting for leaning dispiritedly against a column by the main entrance, she couldn't help herself and ran to meet him.

"Draco!" She held her breath and pressed her lips, for some unknown reason the Slytherin's stone cold face was the most true and emotional sight she'd seen in a long time.

"Ma'am." He bowed his head in a respectful nod but kept his distance.

Her eyes admired every inch of him and how he was dressed. Draco's suit, shirt, tie and shoes were immaculate white. Tied around his right forearm, as sign of mourning, was a four inches thick ink-black embroidered silk lace. The way she looked at him, holding such powerful heat, made Draco feel like branded. But that's the way Clarissa always looked at him since Draco had memory and never knew why she'd done that but it was best not to know.

She then took a step closer and he got caught in her perfume, it was intoxicating. "My son's sense of irony had no limits. I guess after the many funerals he'd attended in his life, Blaise couldn't stand the idea of people wearing black in his funeral. The way everybody kept staring at the colour of my dress was starting to get on my nerves, but that's exactly what my son wanted me to do. I'm glad we're two now."

Draco nodded but then went unnaturally still beside her and shoved both his hands into his pockets.

She reached out to rub at the dark circles under his cloudy eyes. "My dear, you look exhausted."

After what Draco felt like an endless moment, Clarissa's fingers stopped traveling down his face. The way she'd explored him, so carefully and so detailed, as if she'd imprinted his face inside her mind, made Draco feel uneasy and awkward.

"I know it must have been difficult for you to come here, saying goodbye is never easy." She sobbed pressing him tight against her, her whole body shuddered.

Noticing the words stuck in his throat, Draco swallowed hard. "Blaise is not dead."

"He'd always be alive in the hearts of those who cared about him." She replied and buried her head in his shoulder.

Draco broke the embrace and narrowed his sore eyes. "I want you to do this one favor for me: I need to be alone with Blaise tonight. I'm the only one who can wake him up."

He talked like someone close to the edge of insanity, as if the fractured walls of his mind could hold him no more, but no matter how crazy it might have sound, Clarissa knew better. When she was preparing her son's body for the Memorial and she saw no visible signs of the fatal wounds that cost his life, she was forced into believing Draco's right away.

"What did you do to my son?" She shuddered as a cold shiver crawled down her spine.

"I've promised." Draco paused and refused to look up as he added with a thread of voice. "I'll protect him always."

Clarissa took a step forward and ran her hand over his hair, combing those untamed silk blond curls that Draco completely forgot to fix earlier, mothering him a little. "I never knew Blaise meant that much to you, it touches me seeing you like this."

"He's my brother." Draco sounded incredibly sad, matching the blurred light of his amethyst blue eyes.

Her voice started breaking up from the crying, but he did her best to remain calm. "I know why my son chose you above all others and why he loved you the way he did. It was hard for him to fight against his heart, specially knowing that you'd never return those feelings back to him. Seeing Blaise like that, aching for a non-returned love, made me sad and angry, but not because I was against his decision: I just wanted him to be happy!"

Draco's heart threatened to stop beating, she knew. All this time she was aware of his son's feelings for him. The only reason she denied it was because she refused to see Blaise being consumed by his weaknesses.

The depth of Draco's anguish, so heavy and potent, matured then into pure sorrow. "I never wanted to cause any pain to him but no matter how hard I try, I always end up hurting the people I love. I despise myself for that."

She took his hands in hers and placed his arms around her waist as she cuddled closer. "Please, don't say that Draco, just hold me tight. I'm so glad you're here, I wouldn't be able pull this through alone."

A tint of impotence flickered in his voice. "Clarissa, listen…"

But she hushed him tracing a finger through his pale lips, her next words to him sounded a little angry. "No, you listen to me and stop being selfish. My son is not suffering anymore, please be happy for him because now he's complete and whole, he's at peace."

Raw pain darkened Draco's amethyst blue eyes. "Blaise loved life and he was ripped from it before his time!"

"It's hard to let go of those we love, I know." She closed her eyes shut and buried her face in his chest.

Draco couldn't quite manage standing without trembling, his hands were shaking, but he forced as much calm into his voice and manner as he could master. "I've already made that sacrifice. I've lost my mother and also parted from the only woman I'd ever love so that she could pursue a better live, and that's without me."

Clarissa looked up, curling her gorgeous lips into a sad smile. "So young and already broken hearted? Draco, the first love always marks us."

He felt a sob catch in his throat, but he forced the sob down in his throat and blinked back the tears. "She deserved better than me. I'm not_ that_ selfish after all."

Standing there, wrapped in his reluctant arms, inches away from his face, Clarissa couldn't begin to imagine the strength of will it must've taken for Draco not to cry, his body was in the verge of a mayor breakdown.

Without releasing him from the trap of her arms, she hissed in his ear. "She's a fool. What woman in her right mind would ever let go of you?"

He froze, his arms felt numbed around her as he struggled to set free from the cage of her possessive embrace. "Tell me something Draco, what hurt you the most? Losing the woman you love or losing my son?"

Reading through her acid irony, he shot back. "I haven't lost Blaise."

She arched one eyebrow. "If you're so determined to play God you've might want to remember his greatest gift: free will."

Brushing her hands off him, he replied. "You're right, that's why I won't place any condition whatsoever. I'll just expand the prospects and future of the ones who so well deserve it."

"Did that work, you convinced yourself?" Clarissa looked serious. "You'd never venture into something before knowing ahead you'd profit from it."

Draco frowned, biting his tongue.

"If it's indeed a true transformation of yours, is it bone-deep or just a veneer?" She asked, arching one distrustful eyebrow.

"The happiness of those I care the most is my reward. I'm doing this for them, not me. I wish you could see that." He shrugged.

Grabbing him by the collar, she sobbed. "What future could you possibly offer to my son? Would you be willing to return his love for you?"

Draco forced himself to speak through his piling angst. "You could never understand me or Blaise with such narrow-minded concept of love. How can such powerful feeling be limited to the ecstasy of the flesh?"

She chuckled and leaned closer. "Oh _platonic _love…so ethereal that it dissolves in thin air. That kind of love is no love at all! Draco, now you're talking like someone your age: idealistic and naïve."

His amethyst blue eyes darkened. "Life is measured by the intensity of the feelings experienced through it. I might be young but I've already been burned with most of the ills and joys existence might bring. Don't judge me so lightly Clarissa."

Trying a complete different angle, she whispered. "The doors to my home have always been open to you Draco. You do remember that, don't you?" Her eyes held an unspoken indirect message.

Every nerve in Draco went stiff in rejection still he kept his tone consciously gentle. "I appreciate your hospitality."

Her green eyes sparkled with sensuality. "I'm generous only to those worthy of my kindness. You're one of the few lucky ones, take advantage of it."

"I take advantage of my enemies, never from the people I care about." He made sure she saw truth in his expression.

But Draco's plain, raw truth had hit her like a slap.

Her breath came out in a gasp. "Pity."

Every instinct Draco had flared bright red seconds before Clarissa's magnificent green eyes blended with the darkness of her arousal. She grabbed him by the tie, curled it around her knuckles as she pulled Draco closer to her and kissed him roughly on his closed shut lips.

He broke the kiss abruptly and frowned, feeling more sorry than angry with her, but didn't say a word. She was a woman in pain and the only way she knew to release her frustration and sorrow was to get close, dangerously close to someone. Draco just happened to have crossed her path in a most difficult and terrible moment, that was all…wasn't it? But no matter what excuse he tried to make up inside his mind to back up her actions, it was clear that woman was a predator, the lethal kind.

After a long silence, she took a step back and looked at Draco in the eye. "I want you visit me, we're family and we've got to stick together."

Draco raised an eyebrow but kept silent. It was a bribe, pure and simple.

She took a deep breath and shrugged. "See? I'm not that hard to please."

Draco's jaw was tight, stifling a crawling nausea. Clarissa then took his hand in hers and leaned against him as both stepped inside the temple, startling even more the people who came up on the two all-white dressed figures.

Professor McGonagall and professor Spout approached them. Both old women looked visible burdened. "With great difficulty and humility we'd like to express our profound grief for the loss of your son."

But Clarissa didn't reply, she hardly managed to nod and wrapped an arm completely around Draco to support her; her knees were starting to fail by then.

"I believe this is yours, professor." Draco said, retrieving the bended Time Turner to McGonagall.

She cupped his hand in hers and closed it shut, she didn't want it back. "I misjudged you, I'm sorry."

Pocketing the hourglass, he tried to phrase his next words carefully enough not to spit that much venom all of a sudden, but it was impossible. "That's the problem with you, Gryffindors, your false sense of pride blind you from seeing the greatness of us, Slytherins."

Clarissa let go a soft whisper-like laugh and cuddled closer. No matter how much Draco wished that woman would stop touching him, he did his best to steady her against him and walked her to her chair on the front row. He then realized that his assigned sit was right next to her.

"_Swell." _He cursed silently as he rolled his sore eyes.

The Slytherin stared numbly the scene: everybody was either crying, praying or hugging each other. He then looked up and saw the coffin with its open lid on centre of the altar, to the right was a large ornate brass hanging oil lamp, each of the seven oil fonts burned with timid white flames. It was a key element for every Farewell Ritual, meant to reflect the emotions of everyone who wished to say goodbye to the disease. The deeper the emotions, the largest, hottest and reddish the flames turned. The range of colours then varied from white, blue-white, green, ash-yellow, lemon-yellow, orange, highly red and dark red.

"This tragedy is still incredibly difficult for us to comprehend. I always looked at being a teenager as being immortal, as never being able to get hurt that bad, and definitely never dying, at least not for many more years." Started to say a tall old wizard with dark skin and crooked nose, he didn't look to be part of Blaise's family, at least not to Draco's judging eyes.

The moment the old wizard got near the oil lamp, he guided his right hand to the seven oil fonts as its flames turned into a pale shade of yellowish green. "In the name of Wisdom, Love, Peace, Mercy, Eternal Spirit, Harmony and Understanding…so mote it be."

Draco then felt a soft weight on his right shoulder, it was Blaise's pet. The pearl white owl was careful enough not to ruin the expensive fabric of the blonde's jacket with his claws as he cuddled closer.

"I know Lex, your master has momentarily slipped through a crack of the veil. He just needs a little push to take him out of there. But we've got to wait a little more, when the sun sets." He said with a thread of voice, caressing those smooth feathers that felt like silk between his fingers.

Several minutes later, after Clarissa's farewell speech to his son, it was time for Draco to take the stand. He caught sight of Lex from the corner of the eye soaring above the coffin. Draco stopped half-way, struggling to force himself to speak his heart out loud. How could he ever say goodbye to Blaise if deep inside he knew his best friend was still alive?

"_Sometimes you see more with your eyes shut." _A voice whispered inside his head, giving him the shivers.

When he reached the coffin, Draco shrugged and closed shut his eyes for a moment, feeling the tears burn at his eyes, inside his mind he didn't saw Blaise but himself lying in that coffin, floating in a pool of blood.

Draco was starting to get obsessed with the idea that haunted him since the death of his mother. At that moment, like never before, he wished he could switch places with his best friend, he wished he could let himself go, sinking in the depths of oblivion. But at the same time he knew he'd never be reunited with her mother in the after-life. No matter he found her body and set her free from whatever curse Lucius had cast on her. Once he was gone for good, he'd definitely be punished with the weight of his actions and that reunion would never take place.

He shook his head and finally opened his eyes and saw Blaise lying in the coffin, surrounded by white button roses all over him. His friend looked so peaceful in his sleep. _"Don't worry brother, I'm here now."_

Draco refused to say goodbye to Blaise, he was going to take the opportunity to speak up his very own farewell speech instead, driven by his own death wish.

The blond Slytherin turned round to face the people in front of him, he could feel himself trembling and it was only the start. "To me, life is a double-edged sword. After losing those I cared most in this world I see myself trapped in this place I'd rather not be but if there's truly something after death, I'm sure I'll get the worst of it too. So, either way, I'm living the worst of both realities."

A tint of smoke gray flickered in his blue amethyst eyes. "I'm selfish…oh yes…but I'm far from being like you, bunch of hypocrites. You are crying because deep down inside you're glad that it wasn't you the ones that lie in that coffin!"

Draco looked over and saw that most of the people present where staring at him with stunned faces.

Then every muscle in his body tensed in anticipation as a strange angry vibration threatened to tumble down his diminishing self-control. "I've cried too, but mine wasn't an act of weakness. I cried because I was infuriated. Last night I welcomed death and it decided to pass me by and take Blaise instead!"

Everyone was still just staring at him, fear and shock plastered on their faces.

But Draco kept warming on the subject as rage filtered through his words. "What things, beside your pathetic existences, are so desperate to clench to in this relentless world? Life is a terminal disease; no one can survive it for long. After all, we are destined to be eaten up by mother-earth when we are surplus on her surface."

By the time he looked again at the people present, he caught sight of a group of Gryffindor students entering the place. The Slytherin searched among the new arrival faces and stopped at Hermione and Ron, no signs of Harry, it was better that way otherwise Draco would have make sure that Gryffindor would spend eternity in an overcrowded grave.

Draco's eyes darkened even more. "Just ask yourselves this one question: why are you really here? You didn't care about Blaise Zabini, you didn't know who he really was until today, after he saved your worthless lives. Now everything about the way you saw him changed and was replaced by an instant aura of respect. You've completely forgot your criticisms towards him, your arguments with him, all because everything has been filled with your regret and guilt!"

The pain was so close to the surface that his voice had dropped several octaves. "I know Blaise since childhood, while growing up, we identified in each other the same way of thinking and of seeing and appraising dangers and principles. But he had one flaw, and that was to rely on his instincts. He believed blindly in me and granted me his complete trust, something no-one would ever be able to do whether they claim to know me…why should they? His loyalty and boldness lead him to follow me so faithfully up to the final consequences of my acts."

Fighting with all his might to keep steady the tone of his diminishing voice, he continued.

"Sometimes Blaise questioned me, but he never judged me. I've tried to do the same, but I've failed many times in this pursue. That's exactly what makes him better than me, that's why I look up to him the way I do. Blaise Zabini is a man of an enviable free spirit. He is an absolutely trustworthy and wise friend. He is the brother I always wished for."

There was an awkward silence. Everyone froze at the use of the present tense in his speech.

Draco then started to smirk in an odd way and placed himself in front of the oil lamp. He lifted his right hand travelling the oil fonts as he recited out loud. "In the name of Honour, Purpose, Loyalty, Will, Intention, Means and Effect. So mote it be!

Right after that the flames turned into a vivid burning dark red and raised four feet high. The place was soon filled with the humming of whispers and shocked gasps. Apart from the fact that there were no records that a manifestation of that sort ever took place in a Farewell Ritual, only someone with deep, strong feelings for the disease and bearer of an immensurable magic could have achieved such effect on the flames.

Draco finally turned and walked towards the coffin. He leaned over it and kissed Blaise on his forehead.

"You will wake up." He ordered in a harsh whisper.

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**A/N:**

To Roxana R.I.P. You've been my one and only best friend, I loved you like a sister. Years have passed since you've gone away but there's not a moment in the day that I don't think about you and how much I missed you. Why did you have to go first? Why it had to be you and not me? Like those people who take pity of a newborn kitten dumped on a trash-can you'd rescued me from myself and gave me hope. You didn't deserve this, you were happy, you were caring, everybody loved you…I'm the opposite and I'm still alive…why? Who's more selfish, humans or their so called maker? What's the purpose in doing good in this life if you'd end up being punished more severely than a rotten heart? I'm in a living nightmare and I know this is nothing in comparison to what awaits for me. I'd never be able to see your smile again, where I'm going it's not exactly the place where you're now but no-one and no-thing would ever take away from me what you've gave me during the brief time I had you in my life. I love you. Always. Forever.


	24. Chapter 24

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**CHAPTER XXIV**

"_Haunted by the past, a nightmare that seems so unreal__  
Wish that I could turn back time and spare the pain that we both feel  
And now, we've changed, things will never be the same._

_We were foolish then b__ut our trials served to make us strong  
The burdens are not yours alone, we've sought the answers for so long  
But they're not free, they cost you more than they cost me, my brother._

_I promise you there is nothing I won't give to see this through, r__eturn the soul to where it lives  
I promise you I'd go everywhere I've been to find a way, to make atonement for my sin  
And see your smiling face again."_

_(VIC MIGNOGNA – "Nothing I Won't Give" [FMA])_

Draco sucked in a deep, quiet breath, held it and lowered his head. Sitting there, staring at the darkness, the dispirited Slytherin kept thinking about life and death, creation and destruction and those questions that kept haunting him since the moment he lost his mother and regained a place in his mind shortly after he lost Blaise.

Everything around him seemed to be occurring under the sign of blackness or darkness. He knew he was focusing more and more on seeing just half of the whole picture. After all, light and darkness were the primordial principles of all things. Originally they were one and dwelled together in the greatest harmony, but two equal powers couldn't hold up such perfect balance for long. After they got separated, each one retained as much as the other as possible because one couldn't live without the existence of the other. Just like him and Luna, just like darkness would always yearn for the light…and vice-versa.

Snape was right, again. It wasn't a wise thing to make a hasty decision after being through such incredible traumatic ordeal, but something had to be done and it was up to Draco to fulfill such alchemistical task.

Draco shuddered, remembering when his Head of House stopped him right after the blond finished pronouncing his speech at Blaise's memorial:

"_Ever since your mother was murdered in front of your eyes, you've been obsessed with the idea of preventing the mortality of those you care about. What you're not seeing is that __life itself is complex beyond your understanding. Therefore, it can be nothing better than irresponsible to create life from death when you don't understand what is already alive. __There's a reason why we humans can't stop death.__ We are not intended to control life. It is a responsibility no human can bare, that's why we should not play God!_"

A glaring lighting then pierced the darkness of the place and showed the eerie silhouettes of the carved stone images on the walls. The temple was deserted. Only Draco remained there, sitting by the edge of a step, with his gaze focused on the open lid coffin in front of him, concentrating.

"_You might not see us with your eyes, but you can perceive us with your mind. What is it that you seek?"_ A low-pitch swirl of mixed voices moaned past his ears.

Draco twisted his head around until his neck popped. He got up and stripped off his jacket along with his tie, shoving the backpack over his shoulder, walking resolved towards the coffin. "I'm here to claim my brother back."

After unpacking the elements he needed for the _awakening_ and placed them over the altar, he traced a protective circle with his wand, lighted six red candles and one black, drew the seal of the Spark of Life over the linen cloth with black incense and put a clear quartz rock on center.

Once he finished pouring into a cauldron the sulfur, fluorine and phosphorous he stirred the solution, mixing those last three ingredients with the rest as he finished preparing the _elixer vitae. _Draco then decanted the finished solution into a crystal vial, filled a large glass goblet with water, a smaller one with oil and a placed a snake egg over a tray. He got everything, except for one thing, the _air-dweller_.

The blond only had to picture the word inside his head and right then appeared a pearl white owl, it was no other than Blaise's pet: Lex. Seemed that the bird heard its unspoken name as clearly as if Draco had opened his mouth and shaped it into sound.

After removing the white button roses from around Blaise, Draco lifted him up, steadied his friend's head against one of his sharp shoulder-blades and carefully emptied the content of the vial into Blaise's mouth, making sure the elixir traveled all the way down the trachea and cast a magic seal of his brother's lips to prevent any drop from escaping. He then rested the body back into the coffin and unbuttoned Blaise's shirt, lifting also the t-shirt in order draw the purifying symbols on that toned broad chest but Draco froze when he saw a sterling locket around Blaise's neck.

Holding the jewel in his palm, Draco opened it. Inside the double locket were two small color photos of two kids making funny faces at each other for a brief moment before smiling broadly at the camera. The one on the right had porcelain white skin, smoke gray eyes and silk blond hair; the one on the left had smooth ebony skin, curious dark eyes and black jet hair. Draco remembered perfectly when that photo was taken: the day they both met - at Blaise's 5th year birthday - and immediately became friends.

He lifted his head, pushing down the painful knot that was building up inside his throat and took a few moments to catch his breath. The owl landed by the side of the coffin, next to where the blond was standing, destroying abruptly his train of thought.

Holding tight and high his wand, he pressed his free hand over Blaise's bare chest and spoke out loud. "I, Draco Malfoy, speak to no other ears but your own. From the abyss of lost souls you shall safely cross. I command this breaking power to increase, as sickness and decay cease. In perfect balance you shall be found once waking up from the sleep profound!"

The answer came in the form of a low growl that resounded on the walls of the temple and would made every tiny hair on a person's body stand up, but Draco remained calm and concentrated.

"_The tincture of the soul cannot be new-born in an impure body for it must leave the earthly dark house and take on a new pure body before it can be united with the light. Without a proper separation, purification and reunification of the elements the soul might wander around aimlessly in the dark chaos of the underworld, and in a way experience a second death."_

"I'm offering myself to clear Blaise Zabini from all impurity." Then, caressing with the back of his hand at Lex, Draco added. "This air-dweller would serve as safe passage between both worlds, between where my brother fell and where I stand so that the seed of fire would come to life again, change, cleanse and transfigure itself to achieve permanence."

The fire of the candles aroused, they ascended producing a yellowish steam with subtle gold flakes.

"_Be aware__ you'll be swallowing the essence of death in its raw form along with the cruel and destructive nature of what's impure in this body. This not only shall leave you in confusion and despair if you don't channel the elements properly, but can also put a fatal end to your mortality." _

Draco's face hardened, attuned to every fiber in his body. "I, myself, have become the willing vessel for my brother's sins, to dissolve all impurity in him and bind it within myself. This is my will and command, let his darkness fill me whole, I welcome and embrace it willingly. With this incense burning of sacred prayers, the seven candles of the inner human being, I command the ignition of the Divine Spark to separate the impure from the pure, from imperfection to perfection, through the dark blackness of death into the clear white light that holds the renewal of life!"

As the fine gold flakes of the candles gradually gained intensity and brightness, the clear quartz rock turned slowly into ash grey, losing all iridescence before it consumed itself into pitch-black. Lex started to flip his wings in a violently way, motioned them back and forth with erratic and distorted movements as the feathers turned from pearl white into ink-black.

Draco then pointed with his wand at the altar and recited out loud. "Be envy encased in freezing water, pride and avarice shall boil in oil, lust shall roast by candle fire, shall wrath be leashed inside this snake's egg as sloth and gluttony consume it whole!"

The Slytherin turned round and walked towards the altar, he held the snake's egg and burned it with the black flaming candle, then threw it into the boiling oil goblet after pouring the mixture into the frozen water large goblet and waited for the liquid tincture to cool in order to be drinkable. He swallowed it up without breathing, fighting with all his might the urges to throw up, in one large sip.

He then fixed his amethyst blue eyes at the restless owl before lowering his gaze at the lifeless body. "Blaise Zabini, after traveling through all the regions of the underworld, you're now in the middle of darkness. Overcome the fear of death for the dark puzzle of life has been now solved. Let yourself be guided by the eternal light which illuminates your path and pass through earth, water, air and fire. May my wishes be fulfilled, return back, oh human soul to the soul of the world!"

As claustrophobia closed around him, Draco drew a hand over his chest and concentrated harder than ever on his breathing. But soon desperation threatened to crawl over. Ironically, he wasn't worried for being unable to breathe but for being unable to complete the ritual. With an incommensurable will power he forced air to fill his lungs and called out.

"In the darkness I, Draco Malfoy, hold the light which burns without flame, from beneath and above hear me calling your name. Blaise Zabini, abate and negate your actual state, let life itself reply. Follow my command, let my will be done and rise as perfect one!"

The light of the candles rose drastically before the wax consumed entirely, the crystal goblets exploded in countless glass fractals and the quartz rock reduced to ashes as the whole place shook from its ground with an inhuman scream.

"_Polloi men narthekophoroi, pauroi de te bakchoi!"(i) _

A blinding white light filled the temple seconds after a powerful force sent Draco flying across the room, smashing his body against the window's virtaux into the cemetery field before crushing his back into a headstone, breaking the stone in half.

Draco screamed awake, excruciating agony cramped every nerve in his body. He could barely breathe by then. He knew that if he couldn't catch a deep breath soon he was going to choke to death. It was pouring outside. Rain drops started to run down his silk blond blocks and over his face before bathing every inch of his body along with the rising agony, the darkness was pressing down deeper. He was alone, so alone and everything around him was dark, black and cold.

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Hermione stopped on her tracks and looked over her shoulder. "No Harry. The _normal_ noises of a cemetery do not include painful moaning and recurring screams. Leave them for the movies."

But before Ron could ask her what they were talking about, he followed with his eyes at his girlfriend rushing towards the place she believed heard those strange noises coming from. "Wait! Hermione, where are you going?"

With a firm push, Harry said. "Come on, we're not going to leave her alone."

Startled by coming footsteps, Harry spun his head back and caught sight of Luna and Neville walking out from behind a pillar.

"Luna destroyed the Horcrux!" Neville celebrated.

"This is the diadem I've told you guys…or what's left of it anyway." Luna flashed a shy smile from beneath her rain-coat's hood as she unfolded the damp handkerchief and revealed the still smoking remainings of Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem.

"You were right. It was safer to do it on Sacred Ground, but it's creepy to be here. Can we go now?" Neville shrugged, looking visible frightened.

"We've got to find Hermione first." Ron said, hurrying the others to follow Harry.

Hermione's eyes opened wide, she then kneeled besides the battered body that lied next to a broken headstone and bit her lip. She looked at Draco in silence, without knowing what to do as he started to draw shallow breaths that sounded like fatal whispers.

She was terrified by what she saw in Draco's eyes. "Malfoy, can you hear me?"

But Draco didn't respond. It was as if he couldn't hear or see her or maybe he couldn't bring himself to talk.

Harry took a step closer and hunched forward, inspecting the half-conscious Slytherin with caution as he held his wand tight behind his back. "I knew he'd follow us! But…what on earth happened to him?!"

"Good question." Hermione looked up and noticed the broken window of the temple in front of them and then looked back at Harry.

"Looks like he'd fallen from that window and this headstone stopped his sky-rocket fall." She said, brushing carefully some glass splinters from Draco's white shirt.

Harry shook his head. "You're saying that he fell from a height of what…eighty, ninety feet then traveled straight a similar distance right into this headstone? How is that even possible?!"

"Don't know." Hermione then pursed her lips and looked back at Harry copying his same incredulous shocked face.

Draco flashed a frantic glance around him, but he was unable to determine where he was. His eyes hurt and he couldn't see a thing but he could perfectly hear the erratic pounding heartbeats of him growing louder and dangerously faster.

With what was left of his strength and his remarkable will power, the Slytherin tried to attune his senses one by one as he picked up a change in the atmosphere around him, despite it was so subtle he could identify it immediately. He blinked hard a couple of times and dragged his foggy eyes from the floor, trying to clear his vision field. Luna was staring back at him, terrified, holding her breath.

Draco tried to speak but no sound came from his mouth, he could barely control his broken, almost destroyed body to keep breathing. All he felt was the pain getting harsher and deeper inside him.

"Luna, what do you think you're doing?" Ron asked as he saw her approaching Draco and kneeled by his side.

"I want to talk to him." She barely touched the blonde's shoulder and realized with horror that his body temperature was dangerously high. Her hand pulled away from as if she'd been burned.

Harry ducked his head to the side and frowned. "It's obvious that in such condition he won't be able to talk at all."

Every one of her senses screamed but the lump in the back of her throat restrained her emotions. "I already know that, still Draco and I can communicate with each other…in another kind of level."

Luna's response surprised everyone, leaving aside the fact that she had just called him "Draco" instead of "Malfoy", they could speak to each other without using words, that was…disturbing. Hermione and Harry backed off looking more confused than ever.

Desperate to get a connection, Luna tried to get closer to Draco again and made him look into her pearl gray eyes. His pupils were extremely dilated and there was a red-blood halo around them. She refrained herself from caressing him again but the urges to touch him were stronger.

She ran the backs of her fingers down his cheek and leaned closer. "Quid agis? (ii)"

"Lux e tenebris.(iii)" And right Draco started hitting his chest, over and over, each time using more force. "Confiteor, quia peccavi nimis cogitatione, verbo, opere et omissione, mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. (iv)"

Neville popped his head from behind Ron and asked. "Why is Malfoy doing that?"

"He's immersed into an expiation trance." Tears started to ran down Luna's cheeks, but they blended immediately with the rain drops. "He's blaming himself for all the pain he'd caused."

Ron munched the words out loud. "Right about time."

"What kind of spell did you use to hear what he's saying?" Hermione asked truly curious.

Luna didn't even pay attention to what Hermione or Ron were saying. She looked at Draco who was gasping in pain as he tried to lift himself from where he was sited when the sound of broken ribs force him to stop all of a sudden. But even despite the pain, Draco resumed to hit both his fists over his chest harder than before.

Harry rushed to help Luna and tried to restrain Draco, but the blond didn't stop, on the contrary, he was becoming more forceful and determined. Without paying attention to the strange burning sensation he felt the minute he touched him, Harry struggled fiercely with Draco.

But the Gryffindor made an overreacted violent move and the blond gasped in pain as his back cracked again against the edge of the headstone and hit his head, dazing him a bit...for scarce seconds. Before Harry saw it coming, Draco kicked him hard in the chest, sending him flying back with incredible force. Using his remaining strength, the Slytherin jumped backwards onto a stone carved pillar. Draco's motion was almost cat-like.

Draco stood up, trembling with pain, rage and temporal reclaimed power without removing his blood-shot eyes from Luna. "Credo in remissionem peccatorum et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum. In hac fide vivere et mori statuo. Animam salvare, peccata expiare, mundum formidare, passiones frenare, mortem semper exspectare, ad iudicium te praeparare. (v)"

"He's burning with fever or worse." Harry protested and looked exasperatedly at Luna. "What did he do to himself?!"

Luna's face was a mask of emotion, on the one hand taking in Draco's words one by one but fighting to show any sign of this understanding on the other hand. "He'd absorbed energy and he's channeling it inside him."

Hermione spun her head and gasped in shock. "What _kind_ of energy?"

Luna closed shut her eyes and hissed with a thread of voice. "Energy from the underworld and beyond."

Draco's reflexes faltered again, he collapsed to his knees and slumped back. He looked as though he might pass out before he started convulsing, violently, crying in agony. He then wrapped both arms around his stomach, recoiled his body into a tight knot, assuming a fetal position, and start making gagging sounds as if he wanted to breathe or probably throw up but couldn't quite bring himself to do neither of them.

"Luna, stay behind me." Already, Harry was placing his body in front of hers.

"Can't you see he's going to die if we don't do something quick?!" With a ragged sob, Luna pushed Harry from her way and ran to Draco, but Neville caught her from behind and pulled her into his embrace with such speed that she couldn't escape.

Neville held back his frustration as he soothed Luna. "Like what exactly? What can we possible do?"

"We just can't let him die!" Luna was growing exasperated as she retrieved her wand from behind the ear, ready to strike Neville if he continued with his pursue to refrain her from getting to Draco.

"Why not?" Ron asked incredulously.

Hermione stepped into the scene and shot back. "Because he saved lots of lives, mine and yours included!"

"We've got to help him." Harry said taking pity on Draco's condition. He kept himself cool yet cautious as he approached the blond and kneeled beside him. "Can't find a pulse."

"Without oxygen, Malfoy counts with less than eight minutes to wake up, otherwise he'll end up with a brain damage or worse…he could die." Hermione said, talking mostly to herself.

"Anapneo!" Harry checked Draco's pulse again but nothing happened, he flashed a kick look at Hermione and said. "That didn't work. I'll do it the muggle's way: CPR."

Before Ron got the chance to speak up and ask what that meant, Hermione replied. "It's short for _Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation._"

From his funny face, she could tell Ron was as clueless as before, she rolled her eyes and sighed soundly. "Harry, you need help?"

"I don't know if it'll be wise for you guys come closer, I'd prefer to handle this alone." Harry replied, but the warning was directed to Luna who stopped abruptly on her tracks, leaving a half stunned Neville behind her.

Harry then put a hand on Draco's forehead and two fingers from his other hand on the chin. He placed his head near Draco's mouth to listen or feel for breathing as he watched if there was a sign of the chest rising and falling. But Draco wasn't breathing, still his flesh was burning like before, that was probably a good sign, meaning he was still alive. Harry closed the blonde's nostrils with his thumb and index finger, took a deep breath and sealed his mouth over Draco's mouth, giving two rescue breaths.

Ron let go a girlish scream. "Harry's kissing Malfoy?!"

"You're such a git!" Hermione cursed silently.

Without paying attention at his surrounding, Harry continued to watch Draco's chest, to see if there was rising with each breath, but there wasn't any. He then made sure the Slytherin's head was tilted back enough and checked the pulse placing two fingers on Draco's neck alongside the Adam's apple, nothing.

That was it; he had to do something fast otherwise Draco would end up dead within minutes. With no time to unbutton properly Draco's shirt, Harry ripped it off. He found a sterling medallion shaped as a cross with blue gemstones hanging from the blonde's neck, he pushed it aside and to Harry's surprise it was strangely ice-cold despite being in contact with Draco's feverish body.

Harry then trailed his fingertips along the exposed Slytherin's flesh until he felt the breastbone. He interlocked his fingers to provide extra force and started with the chest compressions yet carefully enough not to break even more ribs, counting aloud as he went before breathing again into Draco's mouth.

After a few more attempts from Harry, Draco jerked awake as he regained conscience and started coughing. The others let out a collective sigh, surrounding them with relieved faces.

Draco suddenly rose in a startlingly fast movement, holding his wand with an unsteady hand. He studied his surrounding with a keen eye and those who were around him, evaluating the golden trio.

"I've made it _alive_?" Draco hissed, barely believing it.

Hermione spoke first, pushing herself from behind Ron. "Thanks to Harry! He'd just saved your life!"

"What?!" Draco shook his head in disbelief then paid attention to his body. He placed his free hand around his ribcage, pressing it against the re-built pain of his broken ribs as he took some deep breathes. "Why would you do _that_, Potter?"

Harry smiled briefly. "For the same reason you've saved the lives of everybody at Hogwarts last night."

With exhaustion and a sudden dizziness pressing him down, Draco lowered his wand sighing soundly. "I don't know what took over me, I wasn't myself. But one thing is sure, I won't let anything or anyone try my mercy again, I've already pay a high price for that mistake."

"I knew it! It was too good to be true!" Ron shot back accusingly.

"If you indeed saved me…" The blond paused and shook his head twice, as if to clear his thoughts then looked intently at Harry. "Then something must have gone fatally wrong."

"You're probably right. I've never seen a person take this kind of _punishment_ and come back in one piece." Harry shrugged.

"_How could this have happened? I did everything right…" _Draco missed two beats altogether and went clammingly pale. "_As long as I'm alive Blaise won't be able to wake up and Luna is still trapped in the prison of our bond."_

Draco started walking towards the Temple, stifling the burning pain on his chest with deep pants as he moved one foot in front of the other.

Hermione crossed her arms and moved in front of him. "Malfoy, you need to go to St Mungo's and take care of those internal wounds."

The good news was that Draco felt his ribs getting slowly mended by themselves but the process left a trail of excruciating pain._ "I have to try again, I can't stop now. No, I won't stop and I won't fail! I'll keep trying until I succeed and give my brother a second chance. Once I die I'd be able to set Luna free as well."_

Using her forearm to stop the Slytherin, she pointed out. "You're in shock. You can barely walk at all. Take a look at yourself, will you?"

Leaving aside the fact that he was half-covered in mud and there were traces of blood from the window glass cuts all over his shirt and pants, Draco rested his foggy eyes on his button-less shirt and frowned. "What happened to my clothes?"

Harry got up from the floor and replied casually. "Let's say that the color white doesn't suit you, Malfoy."

And then it hit Draco for the first time, he seemed like he was about to jump out of his skin. "Potter, what did you do to me exactly?!"

"I gave you mount-to-mouth breathing to bring you back to life, that's the only thing that worked after trying with the magic spells I know." The other reply, holding up a grin.

Draco made a gagging sound and tilted his head up, feeling the rain drops washing down his face. He then started spitting the water on the ground and brushed a hand around his lips, murmuring something barely comprehensible as his pupils broaden even more.

Letting go a hysterical laugh, Draco turned to look at Harry. "Welcome to the _Suicidal Club_, Potter. I've got nothing left to lose…what's your excuse besides being a hopelessly stupid Gryffindor?"

Luna's complexion went paper-white. "Draco, you were looking forward to get yourself killed tonight?!"

Draco watched Luna for a stolen moment, hypnotized, as if he'd just realized she was there in first place. Hermione looked from Draco to Luna, back to Draco again, suspiciously.

"What made you think you can address me with such familiarity, Lovegood?" There was a kind of shadowed meaning when Draco gave Luna such sour look. He then raised both eyebrows and replied to her question. "I did what I had to in order to save my brother. Fear is a luxury I can't afford, not anymore."

Fixing his still blood-shot gaze at Harry, Draco spoke again. "You'll see, potty boy, what was preventing me from breathing was death itself. You've took it all when you breathe into me. You're the one who's going to die now."

Skepticism gradually overcame Harry's shock. "You're bluffing."

"A life for another: that's the basic rule of the _game_. If I couldn't pull it through, I certainly doubt you'll make it alive." Draco's jaw could've been carved from stone.

Everyone turned to look at Harry nervously as the raven haired young man's heart missed a beat. He sat down heavily on the grass, shocked. His head hanging between bent knees.

"What kind of sick game is that?!" Ron was visibly losing it and freaking out.

"One a lame pussy like you, Weasley, would never venture and someone like me would find challenging." The amused Slytherin replied and arched an eyebrow at Harry, crossing his arms over his bare chest. "Potter has become an Impurity Devourer…a _Sin_ Eater. I can't wait to see Blaise's face once he wakes up and discovers that Potter died because he ended up as the vessel of his sins!"

Harry was pale as a ghost, sensing a crawling weakness. He started to tense and trembled weakly. Ron approached him cautiously, on his knees, staring blankly at his best friend.

"It'll start with a sudden dizziness, a splinter headache and you'll experience trouble breathing. Your chest might be on fire now, but you'll soon get cold…so cold." Suddenly a curious, mocking look came over Draco. "The question is: who's willing to save the potty boy now?"

"Impedimenta!" Harry yelled knocking back his friends, preventing them from taking any action. He then whipped Draco a blazing emerald green look, rippling with fury. "No-one will save me. I won't risk the lives of my friends."

Draco moved towards Harry in a lightning-fast way, his emotions a mix of anger and frustration. "Now you _do_ care, right? Because they're your _friends_! But what about those who got their lives ruined and those who died because of you, Potter? Did you ever stop to think about them?!"

Harry's eyes looked at Draco without blinking. "I never thought the _Most Unexpected Hero_ would end up being the voice of my conscience as well."

The blond smirked in a merciless way. "I'm your _enemy_ and that would immediately place me in position to be the _villain_ of the story here. I certainly don't give a damn how people are going to address me from now on. I'm the one who end up killing you, plain and simple. Not exactly the way I planned to do it, but it worked just fine."

Harry took a breath and let his eyes flutter shut. "Can't deny that you're a man of your word."

Draco nodded before turning his back on the dying Gryffindor. "Suffer well."

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**A/N:**

(i) _Polloi men narthekophoroi, pauroi de te bakchoi. _(Latin): Many are called, but only a few are chosen.

(ii) _Quid agis?_ (Latin): What happened?

(iii_) __Lux e tenebris._ (Latin): Light out of darkness

(iv) _Confiteor, quia peccavi nimis cogitatione, verbo, opere et omissione, mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa._ (Latin): I confess that I have sinned through my own fault, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault.

(v) _Credo in remissionem peccatorum et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum. In hac fide vivere et mori statuo. animam salvare, peccata expiare, mundum formidare, passiones frenare, mortem semper exspectare, ad iudicium te praeparare._ (Latin): I believe in the forgiveness of sins and I look for the resurrection of the dead. In this faith I stand to live and die. A soul to save, sins to expiate, the world to despise, passions to subdue, death perhaps to suffer and judgment to undergo.

**Update 30th January: Okay, as I've warned before this fiction would get darker with the passing of the chapters. When a poison is ingested in small doses and then it augmentes slowly there's a slight chance to end up being immune to it or you'd never wake up again. Well, that's practically the idea of the upcoming chapters, if you're not comfortable with what you've read so far then drop it, you won't have stomach enough to digest what's coming up. Expect the worse and enjoy the last sunset before darkness encloses the world forever. **

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	25. Chapter 25

**CHAPTER XXV**

_"You give me the reason, you give me control  
I gave you my purity, my purity you stole  
Did you think I wouldn't recognize this compromise?  
Am I just too stupid to realize? Stale, incense, old sweat and lies, lies, lies._

_It comes down to this, your kiss, your fist and your strain  
It gets under my skin within, take in the extent of my sin._

_You give me the anger, you give me the nerve  
Carry out the sentence I get what I deserve  
I'm just an effigy to be defaced to be disgraced  
Your need for me has been replaced  
And if I can't have everything well then just give me a taste."_

_(NINE INCH NAILS – "Sin")_

Draco kneeled by Luna's side, grabbed her gentle but firm by the shoulders and turned her around. Lowering the hood of her rain-coat, he rested her head against his chest and breathed in her exquisite scent. She was slowly awakening from Harry's stunning spell. Brushing her damp dirty blond blocks from her face, Draco trailed one of her cheeks with his fingertips in a tender, soft way.

"Luna, does you father know you're here?" He whispered, his warm breath caressing slightly her earlobe.

She shook her head, coming back slowly to her senses. "No thanks to the letter you've sent him. I've got to sneak out from his close watch to come to this cemetery and help out my friends."

He let go of her and stood up. Keeping the tone of his voice low, but with a building anger rising at a fast rate, Draco replied. "Forgive me for giving a damn."

"Oh. My. God. Harry." Ron gasped as he regained conscience.

Draco glanced over his shoulder and caught sight of Harry trying to lift himself up from the ground. The blond spun around completely and shook his head in disbelief, trying to speak.

"This is a miracle!" Hermione cried happy tears as she rushed to meet her friend.

It had stopped raining moments ago but Draco found himself bathed…in cold sweat. His vision started to blur again as he rolled his blood-shot eyes looking around before slumping forward a tree for support. "No…no…NO!"

Luna looked at Draco with wide-eyes, it was the worst she'd ever seen him. Draco had a distant yet paranoid look all over his sickly pale complexion. He then snapped out completely pointing his index finger towards Harry, accusingly.

"This is _impossible_! Potter, you should be dead!" Holding his fingers up to indicate quotation marks, Draco added. "DEAD!"

"You son-of-a-bitch!" Ron screamed under his breath, exasperated, clenching his fists.

"Don't!" Harry interrupted looking at his friend in the eye, rising up an arm helplessly while rubbing nervously his bleeding forehead with the other. "You know, I could use a little help here mate."

The Slytherin looked at both Gryffindors and shook his head furiously in disbelief. Close to breaking apart for good, Draco fell to his knees and grabbed his head between his shaking hands, pressing his damped silk blond blocks over his face.

Hyperventilating, Draco tried to calm himself down, but his head was still spinning. "Why can't you just _die_ Potter?! Am I asking too much?!"

Ron shoved an arm around his friend and helped him to his feet.

"I've…died. I believe I was in heaven. I saw my parents, Sirius and…Dumbledore." Harry started to retell but a tight angsty knot prevented from continuing.

"This means Dumbledore is dead?" Hermione asked dispiritedly and started crying.

As if raising an invisible cup, Draco toasted to the air with one image in his mind: Snape and his new position at Hogwarts. "The Headmaster is dead, long live the Headmaster!"

"Don't pay attention to him, he's not himself." Harry unexpectedly excused Draco and looked at Ron. "I've also saw professor Slughorn."

Feeling an overwhelming sensation of justice intensifying and localizing inside his chest after hearing the news that his former potion's master was also dead, Draco screamed out victoriously. "YES!"

But before Ron had the chance to stop Draco from continuing with his frenzy celebration Harry grabbed his friend by the collar. "Don't you get it Ron? I've finally paid my debt with him. Malfoy and I we are even now, I don't have to duel with him anymore."

Ron struggled with Harry but mostly with himself. "What's with you, Harry? Malfoy almost killed you!"

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." He explained, as thought Ron was supposed to understand him this time, but that was the problem with Harry, he placed too much hope in his narrow-minded friend.

Ron tried to make sense of Harry's words but then he rolled his eyes, hopelessly. "Here we go again with your obsession with him. When will this ever stop?"

"Never." The raven haired young man replied surprised at how softly the word came out from his mouth as he continued to rub nervously his bleeding forehead. "Malfoy might be _my_ enemy but he could also become a most necessary ally when we least expect, we need him."

Startled by that reply, Ron muttered. "Now I wonder who's crazier: him or you."

"I wouldn't dare to make something that would provoke Malfoy if I were you." Harry didn't want his words to sound menacing, but noticing they came out that way, he added. "You just chill, and for your own good don't get near him, okay?"

The red-haired boy spun his head to encounter Harry face-to-face and he almost chocked. "Harry, your scar is…gone!"

"The last Horcrux." Hermione gasped those words without even knowing she'd said them out loud. But then she turned to her friends and grinned. "You know what this means? We can bring Voldemort down now that all the seven Horcruxes have been destroyed!"

"Oh Merlin, make it stop!" Draco felt the world starting to spin after hearing Hermione's words.

Everybody looked at the Slytherin as he stared back blankly at nothing or no-one in particular. It was clear that he was drifting into a delusional state, with lunatic schizoid-cyclic emotions threatening to take him over.

The blond struggled against the voices that spoke to him, but the words reverberated within his subconscious. "No…yes…YES! That Rune...his stigma... I _should_ have known this would happen! Damnit!"

Luna was overwhelmed to see Draco in such helpless state. She got to her feet and ran towards him, but Neville caught up to her and grabbed her by the arm, placing a finger to her lips, calming her momentarily.

"Who would have thought that a _kiss_ from Malfoy could destroy a Horcrux?" Neville asked out loud and waited for Luna to catch up on his joke. "Nobody ever believed me when I said he had no soul!" He added, warming on the subject.

But Luna's face turned a shade of red, giving her best friend a look that said it all and made Neville close-shut abruptly his lips.

Draco got up slowly as his senses expanded moments after regaining _certain_ composure. When he turned round and caught sight of Neville resting his hands over Luna's shoulders the blond Slytherin felt the lethal anger coming off him so dangerous it threatened everything and everyone in its path as he unleashed the full brunt of his possessive, dominant personality with every step he took.

"Hey you, nebbish toad! You better stop touching…_talking_ before something tragic happens to you!" Draco immediately corrected himself, trying not to entangle his tongue with his piling anger.

"Like what? You're going to give me the _kiss of death_ too?" Neville turned round incredulously but froze when he saw the infuriated Slytherin approaching him with blazing flames of wrath burning his eyes.

In one quick motion Draco slammed a fist into Neville's jaw, hard, so hard that the Gryffindor's eyes rolled back in his head and literally flew over his back, hitting soundly the floor, unconscious.

"Like _that_!" Draco glanced quickly around, smirking somewhat crazily.

Standing next to the fallen Gryffindor, Draco stamped a foot over one of Neville's chubby cheeks, tilting the boy's head to the sides as he studied him with a clinical eye, deciding whether to strike the next fatal punch.

"Please Draco, don't kill him!" Feeling her closeness, Draco turned and looked at Luna in the eye for a long moment with an unfocused gaze as the red halo in his dilated eyes vanished and switched slowly back to amethyst blue.

The golden trio then became aware of what happened and surrounded the couple with confused looks plastered on their faces.

Hermione looked from Draco to Luna, back to Draco again. "Wait a minute, wait a minute. You two are together!" Then she made a funny face to the Slytherin and added. "You were jealous of Neville….of _Neville_?" She repeated, barely believing her words.

Caught utterly off guard, Draco choked, almost giving himself away. He then jerked in shock and started trying to push Luna away from him.

Luna turned to Draco and made her voice hold her bursting scolding tone inside her for having such an ill-tempered and possessive husband. "That would be quite astonishing news, right?"

"Lovegood and I?" Draco asked incredulously and looked at Hermione, shifting his desperation to protect their secret with pure cold-ice indifference. "No. I stand alone. Always have and always will."

As he drew back, Luna felt a stab in her heart. She read between the lines and what she heard coming from Draco's mouth was so heartbreaking she barely could breathe through her angst.

Luna then looked at Draco in the eye and grabbed him by his shirt, pulling him close. She kissed him hard on the mouth without mercy. It was a brutal, savage, possessive kiss and it held every locked-up emotion she felt for him.

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When Luna broke the kiss so Draco could breathe, the next thing he saw was his nose glued to a stone wall. The confused blond turned round and found himself tightly restrained by invisible chains. He couldn't lower his arms for they had been tied up above his head and his feet barely managed to take a step forward. Draco glanced round and saw that he was locked up inside a deserted and confined place that resembled pretty much a catacomb.

Images of his agonizing hours at that ill-rotten place, when he was seized by the Death Eaters months ago, flashed inside his head haunting him. _"This is my mind, playing tricks on me…again." _

The blond Slytherin looked lost, then his facial complexion turned into a pale shade of green and he finally broke down completely. "NONE OF THIS IS REAL!!"

"Aguamenti!" Someone shouted and a waterfall literally washed him from head to toe, leaving him even more disoriented than before.

Draco spitted half the water he almost chocked himself with and paid attention to the energy in the air, detecting a sudden warmth in it that dried his clothes completely in mere seconds; someone had cast a Hot-Air charm.

Without the slightest sign that he'd calm himself down after such _chilling-out_ treatment, Draco emptied the air in his lungs, screaming out loud. "MOPING ME UP FOR THE SLAUGHTER, YOU FUCKER?! SHOW YOURSELF, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!"

A girl of long dirty blond hair dressed with grey and white scotch plaid jeans and bubble-gum colour blouse stepped out of the shadows. "Calm down Draco, it's just me."

He narrowed his eyes, and started to breathe soundly and deeper. "Luna?! What do you think you're doing? Where are we?!"

She raised an amusing brow. "I've been practicing how to dissaparate. We're in one of the subterranean alleys of the cemetery." She sounded almost proud of herself. "Not bad, uhm?"

Draco looked at her in silence, her powers were growing, changing…_becoming._

He blinked hard and his body tensed. "Why am I _chained_?"

She tapped one finger against her cheek and shrugged. "To ensure you wouldn't run away?"

"Uncuff me." His words were razor sharp.

When Luna reached out to touch his face, Draco pulled away and that made her feel deeply upset. "I will…eventually. But first you've got to listen to me, and listen carefully."

Draco's jaw tightened. He could barely look at her for he was coldly furious. "There's nothing left to say."

"I've done my share of listening. Now it's my turn to speak." She paused. "Are you looking for this?" She asked and chuckled, holding his wand between her fingers.

Pulling from the chains, making the lean musculature of his shoulders and torso stand out beneath his button-less white shirt, Draco slowly turned back to Luna, getting pissed. "What do you want?"

Luna then clenched her hands on his shirt and pulled him to her. "I want _you_."

At that, he could do nothing to stop his sour smirk from surfacing. "I'm taken…by me."

Her voice cracked completely as she brushed her hands over her blouse, shacking. "I thought you've said you'd never hurt me again, you lied to me."

"It was _you_ the one who was looking a way out of this. I did exactly what you wanted. Damnit!" He replied, pulling away.

Luna looked supremely worried. "You've become suicidal. You went to the Astronomy Tower all by yourself knowing you probably wouldn't make it alive and now you're trying to bring the dead back to life? Do you want to die so badly or is it that you've completely lost your mind?"

"Blaise is _not_ dead: all I did was to purify his mortal frame to make a safer passage back into this world once he awakes. And for your information, we're in the middle of a war. You kill if you've got the chance to do it. If you don't…you get killed. It's a simple equation." Draco replied, smirking somewhat cynically.

Luna stopped for a moment and hunched forward a bit, stifling a lighting pain in her stomach and when she looked up at Draco, there was a complete different light in her pearl gray eyes.

"You're forgetting something here my beloved: you're _mine_, you can't leave me." She said, speaking the words so heavily, they almost sound as though they were coming from someone else...probably they were.

For a moment, just a moment, Draco looked genuinely stunned at that but then resumed to continue struggling to free himself from the chains without much luck.

Luna just kept sizing him up, pulling him close so that their noses were only an inch apart. "Will you do as I say?"

"No." His tone was dead certain.

She tried to ignore the trembling thrill of lust in her belly, but it wasn't going to be easy. "If you do not cooperate, things will get nasty."

Draco knew it was useless to get rid of the chains, he couldn't run away but that didn't exactly mean he couldn't find a place to hide…inside his mind. He closed his eyes and started humming an ancient chant to shut her out completely. He was so deep in his trance that only came awoke by a sudden slap over his mouth.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" She shouted and leaned in very close to him, as she whispered. "Did it hurt?"

Draco opened his eyes and just stared at her blankly, his whole body was slowly spasming. "You're constantly surprising me, _sweetheart._ I'd never imagine you hated me _that_ much."

Luna approached him once more, stroking his silk blond blocks back, caressing his cheeks gently. Her hand was warm and alive on his face. "Will my beloved listen to me now?"

He shook his head with a clear "no" and closed shut his eyes once more. But she took hold of his chin and turned his face to her. Trying to ease yet another crushing pain inside her, Luna rubbed her stomach with one hand and let go a couple of sound breathes before speaking again.

"You belong to me." Those four words were full of possessiveness and sounded incredible desperate.

He narrowed his amethyst-blue eyes at her. "You don't own me."

But his clothes couldn't mask the heat of his body, Luna rested her lips against his earlobe and moaned soundly, sliding her hands across his sharp cheekbones as her fingers continued to explore the back of his neck. "The more I touch _you_, the more pleasure _I_ feel…this sensation is quite addictive."

She leaned down to place a row of kisses along his right cheek as her eyes were drawn to how lean his body was. Grabbing him by his pants' waistband, she hissed. "My beloved looks so fine, needs feeding up a bit though."

"Enough touching!" Draco complained, pulling back again, blowing out a lungful of cold ice smoke.

Luna watched Draco's nonverbal freezing charm rising toward the ceiling and arched a playful eyebrow. "Playing hard to get?"

Draco didn't try to pretend he didn't know what she just said. "I learnt that from you, ice queen!" His voice rose to a shout on the last two words.

She looked at him in the eye and pinned him against the wall.

Draco stifled the burning pain of his broken ribs as she breathed heavily over him. "Forget everything_ she_ might have said or done, you're with _me _now."

He opened his amethyst blue eyes wide and forced himself to swallow hard. "Who _are _you?!"

Luna was pressing her body against his as she slid both her hands under Draco's open shirt, rubbing softly his upper body with a possessive touch. She noticed his cross shaped medallion, the moment she touched it, it glowed and Draco felt a soothing sensation washing over him.

She smiled broadly. "Did you feel that too?"

"Wha…?" Draco tilted his head to the side, looking surprised and yet confused as whether the medallion reacted that way when she touched it. "How did you do that?"

"I don't know, but I liked how that felt." Taking his earlobe between her teeth, Luna bit down roughly. "It's something I'd definitely have given to my beloved as gift to show him how much he means to me."

The slight jerk of Draco's body was unmistakable. "Actually that's exactly what it is: a Valentine's gift. It was _you_ the one who gave it to me then instead of those kids?"

"What does the heart of my beloved tell about me? Did it start to beat faster now that I'm here?" Breathy and soft, her voice was a stroke to his senses.

Draco looked at her, his expression was unreadable. "My heart tells me that you're definitely _not_ Luna. Who are you and what have you done to her?"

She cupped his cheeks with one hand and pulled his face toward her, focusing on his eyes, taking special attention to his pupils. "Don't push me away and look into my eyes. I want what's best for you, can't you see that?"

"Get off me, whoever you are!" He gritted his teeth and tried to move away.

"There's nothing I wouldn't do for my beloved." Whispering softly, she wrapped her tongue around his lobe and moaned. "Give yourself to me."

"Never!" And then an odd state of trance haunted his face, as he rolled his eyes, concentrating, slipping from her reach once more. That was when a vicious slap hit him across the face. This time it was harder than the previous one.

Trying to be menacing, Luna's fingers stroked rougher through his silk blond blocks. "What about now. Did that hurt?"

Draco opened slowly his eyes, shoving everything he had into rebuilding those walls between them and stared at her, unmoved. "Can't feel a thing."

There was a growing darkness on his eyes that set every one of Luna's instincts on the edge. What amazed her the most what that there was no confusion or anger in Draco, as if anything moved him. Without being able to hide her disappointment at his attitude, she slapped him harder than ever, as if wanting to prevent him from biting straight for a week or so.

"I've said you're not going anywhere!" The use of such violence told Draco how far he'd pushed her.

Shaking slowly his head, Draco tasted the blood of his broken lip and looked at her without blinking. It took every ounce of his concentration not to betray his reaction. "What do you expect to get from this?"

Luna leaned in close. Draco's pupils dilated a little, her lips just inches from his. "I'm going to break my beloved because I want him to let me in."

Draco looked genuinely shocked at that, whatever he was expecting, it certainly wasn't that. There was a depth of conviction in her voice that hadn't been there earlier.

He sobered, getting the seriousness of her threat and took a defensive step back, but his words were defiant ones. "I'd like to see you try."

As she locked her pearl gray eyes on him, the sound inside his skull redoubled, reverberated, deafening. She watched him with the concentration of a hunter stalking a prey.

Luna looked at him and gave him an awkward smile before clenching a hand against his chest."Aut viam inveniam aut faciam. (i)"

"Luna?!"Draco shook his head, staring at her fist in shock, then defiantly."Ego te provoco.(ii)"

Those piercing pearl gray eyes of hers were tinted with hints of mocking amusement, Luna kissed Draco hard and angrily enough to bruise even more his sore lips. She swallowed him in a fair attempt to consume him completely, stroking for his tongue as she explored his mouth.

All pretense of indifference had vanished by then, Draco's plan to get her out of his system by programming his mind to shut himself down backfired horribly. He tried to hate her then, but Draco's anger was no barrier against the powerful feelings she could arouse in him. After all, anger was a kind of passion too, so pure that it burned him completely.

"I…I _despise_ you!" Draco's voice was full of rage but agony throbbed endlessly beneath the surface.

"Liar!" Luna shot back with the same aching desperation.

She was wild and angry and he felt her with held fury as she clenched from him, but Luna's hands were unbearably tender, her touch a kind of devotion he'd never dreamed of. He belonged to her as much as she belonged to him.

Luna kept rubbing her body against his. She moved like they were one, it was done so instinctively that she was barely aware of it. She squeezed him tight, feeding the need in her, the need for him. Draco's body was pure heat and sensation under her hands. As her fingers traveled down his waist, they reached destination and she feel him harden beneath them. Her eyes fell to the erection pushing against the zipper of his pants and grinned darkly.

"_How possible could Luna's bio-energy __appear moments ago if she's not her?"_ Draco shook his head, trying to focus his thoughts.

Draco's jaw tightened, whoever that person was, it wasn't Luna. He fought to break free from the chains, but the more he pulled from them, the less he could move, as if he was getting restrained more and more with each move he made.

He was growing even harder in her hands as she continued to feel him, making his throat lock. Luna continued to rub at him, arousing his fever pitch through the cloth of his pants. She unzipped them and let them fall to his knees. Now she could see the head of his erection pushing against the fabric of his briefs.

"Are you enjoying this as much as I do?" She asked against his lips, not waiting for an answer before moving down to repeat the teasing caress.

"That's a reflex of the flesh and blood when being stimulated still you mean _nothing _to me because you're _not_ Luna!" His lips compressed to a fine white line as something swelled within his chest, expanding and threatening to burst in a mad rush to get it all out.

"Hush." It was more moan than word what came from her mouth as she ran a finger down the length of him.

Draco gasped and pulled away. "You might have tricked my body, but it's just a _shell_. You're miles away from touching my _heart_, it belongs to the woman I love!"

"My beloved has a tempting mouth." Luna pressed her lips hard against his as she started rocking her body against him in slow circles, feeling his rock-hard erection.

Draco bit roughly her lower lip as he broke the kiss. "This mouth bites."

"You're going to like this, I'll make it hurt in the right places." After getting rid of the barrier of those briefs, she stroked him with her hand a few times before lowering herself onto him.

Her hands gripped him tighter, feeling his need, his anguish. It took every ounce of willpower to bring himself into saying his next words.

"I won't…let you…have your…fun." His voice came in soft pants.

"Does my beloved want me to taste him?" The question was an erotic invitation Draco never thought possible for Luna to have the audacity to make, confirming once more that whoever that person was, it was definitely not his wife.

Draco shook his head and hissed out a breath. "No."

But she started kissing him, licking him in circular motions, tasting him in her mouth as he continued to swell, lengthening and expanding, growing thicker, awaken beneath every and each kiss.

The sweet suction of her mouth was the most intense pleasure Draco had ever experienced, but he wasn't going to give in, the moment he did he knew there would be no coming back and he wasn't going to let himself be turned into what he hated the most.

He rolled his eyes to the back of his head._ "Oh gods!" _

Draco never wanted so badly to pass out, in a desperate attempt to stop the madness that was driving his body to the point of no return. With the last ounce of strength, he pulled away violently from the chains and what followed was the crushing sound of yet another couple of broken ribs.

"I'VE SAID NO!!" His warning was shaped in a sharp cry.

He welcomed the sudden dizziness that enclose him, meaning his plan was going to work after all, he was on the verge of the black-out but unfortunately it was taking longer than he expected.

"Don't fight it." Luna grasped the whole length of him demandingly, pouring everything she had into the loving, licking, sucking and giving.

"You're _not_ my wife! I'd rather die than give you control." His mind burned with the thrones of his darkest pleasure.

She was driving him into the most extreme edge of arousal, the one that would make him lose control completely.

"END THIS NOW, KILL ME!!" Draco cried, he felt the pleasure ripple through him but he was still fighting to let himself go completely as she continued to suck him, carried away, lost, hungry in the inviting smell of his sex as his yearning for release.

"Draco, it's me, just let yourself go." She moaned in between kisses.

"Luna?! Is that really _you_?! What the Hell is going on?!" He almost chocked up with his desperation.

"I'm returning a _favor_." Luna said and winked at Draco before resuming with what she was doing to him.

Draco couldn't help but remember how those same pearl gray eyes had looked at him as he'd used his mouth to suck her to orgasm:

"_O__ne of this days, you can give a try too and return the favor… you know? No pressure…"_

He was hypnotized watching her as she moved her head up and down the hard length of his erection, the sight served to arouse him almost to madness. His hips subconsciously thrust upward, demanding more, without being able to contain his fervor no longer he came, calling out her name.

Luna took care to clean herself and Draco with a quick spell, rearranged his clothes and slowly lifted to meet him. She then released Draco from the chains that had kept him imprisoned all that time. Completely drained of energy Draco collapsed over her to the floor and kissed her on the mouth, burying his face against her. But he did it softly, slowly, undemanding, as both their breathings steadied one with the other and his amethyst-blue eyes were no longer blinded with desire.

His eyes fluttered shut and reopened as if by force of will, his silk white skin with a layer of perspiration. "You want to give me a heart-attack so badly?!"

"Sorry Draco, I've got a little carried away." Luna whispered as their lips parted.

He raised a skeptic eyebrow and pulled back the damp blocks from his forehead. "You'd never looked, talked or touched me like _that_ before. I'd never thought you were into bondage, princess." But then he went clammingly pale. "There was something inside me telling me that it wasn't you, as if you were _lost_ somewhere in between moments, that's why I fought back. Luna, I need to know what happened."

She opened her mouth to issue some kind of response, but her words fell dead inside her throat. Luna shook her head as if getting rid of the trance, but she couldn't because something more powerful was threatening to take her over again. "Are you mad at me?"

Draco took sit on the floor and covered his face with his shaky hands. "I'm afraid I'm losing my mind. I can't brush the feeling that I've done something unforgivable. I've never felt so angry with myself before. This just doesn't make any sense. What's wrong with me?!"

Leaning closer, she whispered in his ear. "Take me to you; imprison me, for I never shall be free, nor ever chaste, except you ravish me."

Draco's eyes opened wide as his pupils dilated in full. "How did you know that's one of my favorite poems? I don't recall _ever_ telling you that."

Luna raised both eyebrows and asked flirtatiously. "Would you let me do this to you more often then?"

"I still can't process what have just happened." He looked away, ashamed to realize the real answer.

"I'm still wait-ing for your ans-wer." She said, dragging the words impatiently.

"Luna, I believe I made myself clear that you're the only one for me." When Draco turned he couldn't disguise his blushing from surfacing. "You can ravish me anytime, anywhere, anyhow. I'm all yours, always will."

She traced her little finger through his lips, displaying a most studied innocent face. "Is that a promise?"

He nodded as he locked her little finger with his in a childish gesture. "I swear."

Unexpectedly, without any warning Draco felt a hot, blind puncture striking his heart. The pain was so intense that it made him clench his chest instinctively with one hand; luckily it disappeared as soon as it struck him. _"What was that?!" _

Luna grinned as she clapped her hands. "My beloved looks so cute when he blushes!"

"I'm_ not_ cute and I'm most definitely _not _blushing." Draco shot back tight-lip and grumpy the only words he could come up in his lame defense, and that made him even more adorable to her.

"My…my…who's the one out of character now?" She chuckled and he smirked.

"I've got the tendency of behaving somewhat stupidly whenever my blood is pumped out, can't help it." He confessed out loud, by then his cheeks were burning red.

Draco then melted his lips against hers and grabbed hold of her arms, rolling over on his back, pulling her over him, never breaking the kiss as he held her so tightly she could barely breathe. "If you happen to come up with the idea of running away from me again, I'll be the one to chain you to our bed and ravish you over and over until every single crazy thought of leaving me vanishes from that little head of yours. Am I clear enough for you this time?"

Luna grinned; her eyes sparkled in an eerie way. "My beloved would chain me to the bed, really?"

"This is your fault princess, you've started all this, there is no way I'd stop now." Draco was still a little groggy and his face was shiny and wet, he then pressed his wet lips against hers once more. "No matter what you do and no matter how much I try not to feel this way about you…you're present in every fiber in me, you haunt my every sense and dictate every breath I take: you are my life."

Wiping the happy tears from her eyes, Luna pulled out a thin cord with their wedding rings from beneath her blouse and smiled at him. "Draco, I've kept them close to my heart."

Draco never looked so desperate and helplessly in love. "Marry me again. Let's take this opportunity to build a better future together and renew our bows."

Luna lifted Draco to his feet, wrapping her arms around his slim waist, steadying him against her. She was starting to worry about how light his body weight felt against hers. "This time I want my father and my friends to be present. I want to share our happiness with them, is that okay with you Draco?"

As he nodded, Draco got a bit dizzy, he still needed some time to recover from his not yet mended ribs and the exhaustion she inflicted on his drained body. "Sure…everything you want. The ceremony is one thing, but can we exchange our wedding rings now? I can't wait to have them back on our fingers."

Luna chuckled as she felt him tracing the cord eagerly between his fingers. Her arms held him tight as they walked out into the cemetery field.

"Draco, before doing that, there's something I need to tell you." Fear flickered in her pearl gray eyes.

His heart-rate started to slow almost immediately realizing how pale her complexion became all of a sudden. _"What could possibly terrify her that much?"_

Cupping her chin with one trembling hand, Draco brushed the tip of his nose against hers. "No. More. Secrets."

Luna nodded but she felt her head pounding with the memories of what Draco once told her, his words assaulted her with no mercy:

"_Are you serious about wanting to have a baby with me, knowing that will destroy what's left of you? Would you endure to be corrupted with my seed? You know that once he grows up he'd end up being exactly like me: a monster!"_

Her pearl gray eyes were already watering despite herself as her voice cracked completely. "I want you to stop saying that nothing good would ever come from you because I refuse to believe that's true!"

Draco sucked up air soundly, visibly confused and worried. "Luna, help me understand what's happening to you."

She looked up at him teary-eyed and started to rub her tummy with one hand. "Draco, I never meant to keep a secret from you but I was scared…I still am." But she stopped abruptly, startled by endless rows of people walking past by them holding flaming candles.

Draco spun his head as his eyes widened and immediately shielded Luna behind his slim frame. "The entire student body and staff of Hogwarts must be here for Dumbledore's funeral."

Luna's gaze reflected a bright flash of shock so deep, it couldn't be hidden. "This is not good."

Draco turned to look at her, his mouth tightened.

Her fear was a tight knot in her stomach by then. "Oh no…this would be the perfect moment for the Death Eaters to attack!"

From the darkness a shadowy figure spoke up. "Clever girl..."

Quick as lighting, the menacing silhouette assaulted Draco from behind, providing an effective stunning spell that knocked him to the ground in one single, fatal motion.

As he laid facing down, Draco tried to get up but a foot kicked him down, nailing him to the ground again. "I've told you I'd find your weakness, son."

Getting panicked, Draco looked at Luna and screamed his heart out. "RUN!"

But in reply, Draco received a kick on the back of his head. His field vision started to narrow with blurred dots that grew larger and darker. Before passing out, he heard Luna's faint scream and then he could hear no more, everything went dead silent.

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**A/N:**

**Wanna know what happens next? REVIEW, it's FREE ya know?!**

What inspired this chapter? Hornyness...this is my homage to St. Valentine's Day.

To understand better the background of the promised duel between Draco & Harry, re-read the prequel of this fiction: "Forever May Not Be Long Enough". I didn't get the time to re-write that first fiction, I've wrote it ages ago but post if last year...since I don't have a beta or someone to help me out with the editing & corrections, it'd stay that way, it's readable. Taking into account english is not my mother language, I guess I've improved quite a bit since I wrote that first drabble.

FYI: I've first announced that this fic was going to have about 29/30 chaps....well....taking into account the amount of things I've got planned on happening, it'll be longer....aprox 34/35 chapters...so there's still a lot ahead.

(i) Aut viam inveniam aut faciam. (Latin): Either I shall find a way, or I shall make one.

(ii) Ego te provoco. (Latin): I dare you.

HOLY SONNET XIV (by John Donne):

Batter my heart, three-person'd God; for you  
As yet but knock; breathe, shine, and seek to mend ;  
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend  
Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.  
I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,  
Labour to admit you, but Oh, to no end.  
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,  
But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.  
Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,  
But am betroth'd unto your enemy ;  
Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,  
**Take me to you, imprison me, for I,**  
Except you enthrall me, **never shall be free,  
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.**


	26. Chapter 26

**+++++++++++++++++++++++++++REVIEW, IT'S FREE!!++++++++++++++++++++++++++++**

**CHAPTER XXVI**

"_Point of no return, see how the buildings burn, light up the night, such pretty sight  
Adrenaline keeps me in the game, adrenaline you don't even feel the pain  
Wilder than your wildest dreams when you're going to extremes, it takes adrenaline._

_Run through the speed of sound, everything slows you down  
And all color that surrounds are bleeding to the walls  
All the things you really need, just wait to find the speed then you will achieve escape velocity  
Too much is not enough, nobody gave it up, I'm not the kind to lay down and die!"_

_(GAVIN ROSSDALE [BUSH] – "Adrenaline")_

His eyes fluttered opened, it had been a rude awakening to reality, blinded by a white hot sensation crawling all over his aching body. Part was pure pleasure, with imprint traces of eager and loving fingers still traveling down his bare skin and part was ripping pain with the burning trail of his still not mended ribs, killing headache and sore back. The swirl of sensations seemed to last forever: ecstasy blended with agony, it was maddening. A shiver ran up his spine threatening to rend him in two as Draco forced himself to his feet, lifting his battered humanity from a dried pool of muddy rain water.

Looking utterly confused, the Slytherin kept staring at his surrounding. His gaze was dizzy and distant. His blond hair was stuck clammily to his skull, his damped white button-less shirt and pants were stuck to his flesh like a second skin wrapping his bones. His chest rose to take in breath, but that simple act burned his lungs as every sense woke up and tried to make out what was going on, the distant shadows around gave him the oddest sense of déjà vu.

As he was trying to pull himself together and remember what had just happened to him, the cold breeze hit his soaked skin menacingly. _"Hell isn't supposed to be this cold, is it?"_

Draco hugged himself, wrapping his arms around his skinny frame, shrugging. He was disorientated and as he tried to make sense of it all inside his troubled mind he felt completely lost.

"_What happened to me? My clothes are all torn, my whole body aches and burns, I can't even stand straight on my two feet..."_ Once Draco repaired on the bluish-purple marks of shackles on his wrists, he felt his stomach sinking, imagining the worst.

Tilting his head up, looking at the sky, Draco curled his hands into tight fists and opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out from it, his vocal cords were numbed. Falling onto the ground on his knees, he squeezed shut his eyes, holding back the tears.

He felt his abdominal muscles undergo excruciating uncoordinated contractions. The intense pressure on his stomach forced him to lean forward. He started retching violently, vomiting the little content his narrowed stomach held inside.

Shortly after that Draco started losing touch with his own body, as if his surviving instinct was desperately disconnecting everything that was painful inside him, shutting down the physical trauma from taking over his psyche. Despite Draco firmly believed he'd been raped – almost anyone in his situation would have arrived to that same dramatic conclusion - he wasn't going to allow himself fall into despair.

"_I was left for dead."_ Pressing tight his chopped dry lips, he put himself together and lifted himself up from the floor. _"But I'm very much alive."_

Draco's facial features transfixed with sharp traces of insanity. Those amethyst blue eyes darkened completely before they start burning with red sparks. _"I'll inflict twice the Hell I'm going through to whoever did this to me."_

The moon was partially hidden by dense grey clouds and the smell of rain still lingered in the air, there was an unnatural mist haunting the atmosphere as well. The cemetery field was already a pandemonium. Oblivious to the yells and screams of those who were running for cover from the Death Eaters attack, the Slytherin stood amidst the chaos, forcing his feet to take one step after the other.

A blurred reddish halo caught Draco's attention. Once he got closer, he noticed that strange incorporeal markings were floating over the corpses of a vast number of Death Eaters disseminated on the grass. The blond Slytherin recognized those Dark Magic Seals from reading about them in a book from the library's restricted section - three red circles spinning over a same axis at a different rate– an ancient symbol of vengeance. Centuries ago, Dark wizards used to cast that Seal after killing those who threatened against the life of their lovers. Draco knew that in order to create just one Seal not only the wizard required an incommensurable Dark Magic power but most important a perpetual, ardent and fervid devotion in the heart towards his object of affection. By the large number of Seals drawn, Draco concluded that only someone with a power matching the one of Voldemort's could have created them.

Draco had only seen drawings of it. He never thought the real thing would hypnotize him that much. Lowering his head, he studied one of the Seals up close, completely fascinated._ "Why would the Dark Lord exterminate an entire army of pawns? Has there been a massive uprising? If so, His thirst for vengeance would have explained this, but how could He cast those Seals if He has no heart? This doesn't make any sense..."_

Startled by the sight of a thick blurred figure approaching at a fast pace, Draco raised his wand and assumed position, ready to strike but a strange vibration shook his wand slightly. He realized then that there might be some kind of jinx hidden in the damp scent of the air that would probably trigger a trap with the use of magic.

"_Never con a con artist."_ He smirked sadly to himself and pocketed his wand. He counted with many other ways to defend himself anyway.

As the figure got closer to him, he could then distinguish that is was a short plump old woman waving her arms around her frantically in what resembled to Draco a pig trying with all its might to develop wings.

The blond saw her mouth talking. He had no option but to read her lips for he couldn't hear what she was saying, all he managed to recollect was a distant low tapping of the vowels.

"Are. You. Hurt. Dear?" She asked for the umpteen time, phrasing her words with an exaggerate contortion of her fat lips.

Draco frowned and tried to speak, but his voice sunk inside his throat once more_. _His breathing and heartbeats were becoming erratic again. She smiled candidly and sympathetically at him and placed a damped handkerchief that smelled like perfumed soap on his left hand and a small water bottle on the other. Draco examined carefully what the old woman had gave him and sniffed the neck of the bottle – checking if it'd been poisoned or drugged - before doing something else.

"I believe he's deaf mom." A girl who shared some resemblance with the old woman tossed out peeking from behind, trying to figure out the identity of the young man with mud and dirt deeply ingrained all over his skin and clothes.

After emptying in one large sip the whole content of the water bottle, Draco returned it to the woman. "I thought the question was rhetorical." He replied annoyingly with a hoarse voice.

He then pressed the handkerchief over his face, the fresh cloth made him feel somewhat better as he rubbed it over his forehead.

A pair of almond brown eyes widened to the size of saucers as the face of the blond clicked in his head. "Oh my God! Do you know who this is, Molly? He's the son of Lucius Malfoy!"

Grabbing his wife by the arm, Arthur pushed her away from the blond immediately.

Draco froze as he realized too who where those five people: no other but Weasleys. They seem to always travel in pack, well…with the unstoppable growing number of family members it was impossible not to do so, right?

"What a shameful mess you are Malfoy!" The red-haired twins mocked in unison without removing their eyes from him as one pointed at Draco's face teasingly with his wand, getting closer.

Draco raised an eyebrow at the brainless Gryffindors' remark and pocketed the handkerchief in his pants. With a struck lighting move he grabbed Fred's hand and twisted it so that the Gryffindor's thumb pointed away from him. Since there was no possible way to straightening his arm to alleviate the pressure the blond was inflicting upon him with such powerful wrist-lock, Fred was then forced to the ground on his back.

"Don't you dare to point your wand at me ever again!" The blond shot back with bloodthirsty rage.

Draco just held him there, waiting for Fred to move. But if the red-haired brat moved just an inch, he most definitely would end up breaking his wrist, elbow and dislocate his shoulder as well.

Fred chuckled nervously. "I was kidding."

"Next time you come near me showing off such stupid display, I'll kill you." Draco threatened, inflicting even more pressure to the grip. "And I'm _not _kidding."

Draco released his victim abruptly, leaving Fred moaning in pain on the ground as he caught by the corner of the eye the other red-haired boy coming his way waving his fists at him.

Easily dodging the other's attack, Draco grabbed George's arm with sharpen accuracy bending it against the other's back, forcing it upwards towards the Gryffindor's neck and applied pressure to the brat's shoulder joint.

Now that the second twin was fully controlled and restricted from movement, Draco looked up at the old couple for a long icy moment. "You breed like animals, no wonder your offspring behave like beasts."

Ginny looked at Draco defiantly, she spoke out loud the first and only thing that came through her mind. "And your family is on the verge of extinction!"

That girl was indeed an airhead, no wonder Potter was with her, both were right for each other Draco concluded with a sour smirk using George as shield.

"Ginny, no!" Her mother scolded her in a fair attempt not to make things even worse between the two.

The blond turned to look at the old woman, who returned the stare, she was sobbing silently. Something in the way she looked at him stuck inside Draco's guts in an odd way. Draco pushed George away from him so that he could pick up his brother from the floor.

"I don't _fight_ women..." Draco narrowed his sore amethyst blue eyes, smirking soullessly at Ginny. "I _kill_ them: my first victim happened to be no other but my own aunt."

Taking in the full warning of his stare, Ginny stepped back, lowering her wand.

With a sigh of relief, Molly gathered her family together as Arthur pointed them a clearing. "We better go now and take that path, hurry!"

"I don't think that's a good idea." Draco talked mostly to himself, secretly hoping the old woman would listen.

He smirked when she turned her head looking somewhat puzzled. The other four were already heading that way.

"Whenever a place or exit seems easy of access at first sight is because the enemy is tendering you bait." Draco paused and lifted his gaze for Molly to follow his eyes. "Look at the birds, they seemed to avoid that spot, they don't even settle in the trees around it: something in that path is not right."

She flashed him a worried look.

"On the other hand, I could be the one who's trying to dissuade you all to take another way so I can ambush you myself." As he spoke again, Draco's voice was transformed into a painful hiss. "Your husband was right in warning you about me: I'm Lucius Malfoy's son."

Before she had time to reply, the other four were calling out her name, encouraging her to hurry and meet them.

Draco's eyes remained fixed on the woman's back as she walked away. He produced the handkerchief from his pocket and grabbed it tight in his shaking hand before letting it fall to the ground. _"Why should I care anyway?"_

A horrible rumble occurred scarce minutes later and the ground had opened up like a grasping claw busted in flames, destroying and distorting everything around as the five bodies absorbed the blast, picking them up thirty feet in the air before throwing them into the ground. Screams and bone crushing could be heard from where Draco was standing. The outcome had been indeed a gory one.

"_That's a funny thing about death, when you try to avoid it…it comes looking for you anyway."_The Slytherin reflected, walking through a cloud of steam rising from the ground.

Draco grew silent for a moment and closed his eyes. The air smelled different then, it seemed that the jinxed atmosphere along with an inexplicable eerie fog was slowly fading away.

He then noticed that the cemetery field was already blanketed with countless corps lying on the grass. He sucked up a deep breath as he looked down at the chaos: men, women and their children laid motionless one next to the other. Their bodies displaying the strangest contortions with interlaced limbs already very white and looking stuffed due to the imminent rigor mortis. They looked like lifeless puppets. Some were barely alive with their eyes half-closed, squinting madly like fishes on land trying to breathe.

Draco dramatically rolled his eyes as if wanting to stick them to the back of his head in a desperate effort to stop the tears from surfacing.

"_Be careful, you're getting emotional_. _Don't let a momentary feeling carry you away_." A harsh mocking voice past by his ears before blending with the damp scent of the air.

As the Slytherin walked past by the dead bodies crashed on the rocks next to him he heard the faint cries of the birds. The wind was blowing the trees back and forth, leaves and branches were flying through the air, noiselessly. He breathed in soundly and concentrated harder, trying to remember what was he doing before passing out, trying with all his might to gather the fractured pieces of his memory and pulled them back together.

One of Draco's answers to his many questions came right away in the shape of a white pearl owl that landed carefully on one of the blonde's sharp shoulder blades. He noticed that the bird had still some black feathers stuck on the wings and that image slapped his senses altogether: that owl was Lex, Blaise's pet.

The moment he reached the end of the cemetery hill and looked down, Draco found that the Temple in which Blaise's Memorial had been held was already surrounded and slowly consumed by enraged and growing Fiendfire flames.

With the adrenaline firing his brain and body to work at top speed and his heart literally on the verge of jumping out from his throat, the blond broke into a run through the jumping flames, sweating from the heat but stopped abruptly as his path got heavily blocked by the unleashed power of the cursed fire. Draco spun his head in all directions desperately searching for a hole or a clear in the reigning unleashed hell, but there was no spot to dive through.

The pass of the endless seconds in his stuck position created a spiral of increasing despair and fear making Draco's anxiety grew with each one of his pounding heart-beats that pushed him straight into a panic attack. _"There has to be a way, I need to get inside no matter what!"_

Releasing abruptly the air inside his compressed lungs, he almost chocked himself as he instinctively called out. "BLAISE!"

"_He's trapped in there. I have to get him out!"_ Draco found himself hyperventilating all of a sudden, his vision was coming and going out of focus and his body was spasming violently with uncontrollable chest pains.

He started chocking in between breaths as the pace of his palpitations speed up even more, he felt like he was going to lose his mind for good. _"If there's a higher power out there, listen to me and listen carefully. I'd never stop fighting for my brother, even with my last breath. Do you hear me?! "_

In his erratic shallow breathing, the Slytherin clenched from his chest and without willing it to do so, his hand drifted up and his fingers reached for the medallion that hanged around his neck.

A blurred figure approaching him from the left yelled. "Malfoy, get out of there now!"

Draco didn't recognize who that was at first, but there was something annoyingly familiar with the tone of that person's voice. It took him about a couple of seconds to realize who it was, and once he did, he wasn't at all pleased with his discovery: it was no other but Hermione Granger.

The blond simply ignored her completely for he considered that he would lose less sanity if he blocked her out altogether. Draco grabbed the Swastika cross with one hand and once he held it tight in front of the flames to have a clear picture of it, he realized that the color of the nine gemstones turned instantly from dark-blue into bright-red whenever he aimed the jewel towards the Fiendfire.

Glowing letters then started to trace by themselves a pattern across the sterling: _"Ruin every spell that is cast against me and everything I touch because I adjure you by the great and terrifying names, the names the winds shudder at, the names at the sound of which the rocks shatter..."_

He'd managed to read only the first part of what had been engraved before a pair of hands clenched from his forearm and pulled him just when a blazing flame whipped past by him. "You can't stay here, the flames would consume everything!"

Such abrupt physical contact with Hermione brought Draco's attention and anger towards her to the utmost boiling point.

After measuring Hermione from head to toe with a pissed off look, he narrowed his amethyst blue eyes and spitted out. "You have a lot of nerve approaching me like that. Let go of my arm or I'll ring your neck."

She bravely confronted him returning the harsh stare. "What do you think you're doing? There's no way to pass through the cursed fire!"

His mind continued spinning out of control after what he saw unscripted on the medallion. In theory, the best calculation was the absence of it. Draco then remembered something Blaise had told him:

"_For your information not everything can be rationalized: there's something in the guts called instincts, you should rely on them more often."_

So, with no time to think carefully in advance, the blond decided to act capriciously and jump right into action, something he never did before.

Draco couldn't look upon Hermione without his gut twisting in revulsion. "Speak for yourself Granger."

Shaking her head in disbelief, she reluctantly let go of his arm and frowned. "Where are you going?"

"To Hell! What difference does it make?" He replied, not bothering to mask his annoyance.

Draco made a running start yelling countless of four letter words and vulgar curses that he wasn't aware he knew or would be able to reproduce them altogether without entangling his tongue in the process. But his need to build up courage to pass through those flames relying only on his instincts regarding that mysterious medallion was such that the moment was calling for it and so he would continue to scream his heart out until his voice became numb.

Like a cannonball, the fearless Slytherin made a break for it through the Fiendfire frantic frames as the wind threw his silk blond hair back in smooth waves and his torn white shirt flew open draping his arms like wings.

Draco took the stairs two and three at a time, rushing to ascend to the entrance of the temple in record-time. The imminent hot air blew pass him like a soft caress, as if there was an invisible barrier protecting his skin against the menace of the flames.

With a lighting-fast intrepid agility the blond managed to dodge the countless rumbling stone pillars and columns and made its way to the altar that, to his relief, it was still untouched by the fire.

Draco wrapped Blaise's body with both arms and shoved it to a side, resting his friend's head over one sharp shoulder blade seconds before part of the ceiling plaster fell and crushed the coffin, reducing the wood to mere sawdust.

The place was falling apart from its ground consumed by the unleashed Fiendfire flames that continued to devour everything in their path. A sudden panic stuck Draco when he found out that the way from which he had come was then blocked by a couple of crushed columns.

"Bombarda maxima!" Grabbing tight his friend, Draco went literally flying onto the narrow exit he'd just made.

The blond Slytherin crushed the fall on his back, landing violently sideways into the cemetery field with his best friend's body on top of him. The thick grass didn't help muck to provide a smooth landing, but at least they were out of danger. Draco's back hurt like hell and a quick look at his right shoulder revealed that the bone displayed an awkward angle: clear sign that it had been pulled out of the socket.

He couldn't stifle a yell as he pulled Blaise's body to a side. Oblivious to the pain, Draco did his best not to make any risky movement as he laid his friend carefully onto the grass. He then tried to stand up but the stinging spasm in his back and his injured shoulder prevented him from it.

Draco forced his eyes shut for a moment and started to take deep breaths, it was probably better to remain laying down in order to relocate the bone back in place. Using his left hand, he grasped his elbow and bended it at a 90 degree angle, rotating slowly his right arm and shoulder towards his chest. He cursed under his breath trying to psyche himself up and pile back his adrenaline for what was coming next. After a few controlled and deep pants, he pulled hard. A crushing sound followed as his right shoulder adjusted back into the joint leaving a trail of blind hot pain behind.

Completely drained of energy, almost to the point of blacking out, Draco remained still in that position with his back resting on the ground and both arms lined alongside his body. He then lifted his tired amethyst blue eyes towards the night sky and soaked up the moonlight before doing anything else.

Draco turned his head and looked for an endless moment at the black jet haired young man beside him - who was still submerged in a deep sleep – before asking. "This place is soothing, don't you think Blaise?"

After a splash of water upon his abused humanity and a change of clothing - casting a spell to duplicate Blaise's white suit and then a shrinking one to fit his skinny body in it - Draco was finally properly dressed and still in one piece but felt remotely clean or like a human-being at all. He shook his head twice and squeezed tight his glassy eyes, willing away the thoughts of his suspected rape, but that didn't brush the feeling that he felt no longer a man, someone turned him into a _thing_, a despicable, dirty thing.

As he finished buttoning the shirt, he hid underneath the t-shirt the medallion and pulled over the jacket, smoothing it with his hands. The fabric of that suit felt smooth and fresh against his battered skin.

Draco hunched forward and looked at Blaise for a stolen moment, smirking knowingly to himself. _"You were never an early-riser."_

Startled by a sudden change in the wind's aroma, Draco rose to his feet abruptly and blinked twice, sniffing the air around him. There was a captivating and exquisite faint trace of perfume that overwhelmed Draco completely for it reminded him of Luna's scent.

He grabbed Blaise by the armpits and hid him behind some bushes. Cautious by nature, Draco cast a series of protection spells around the area just in case before leaving. "Wait here brother; I'll come back as soon as possible!"

llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

Disarmed and slightly frantic, she backed up but stumbled with a tree branch that forced her to fall backwards onto the grass. Without removing her eyes from the Death Eater in front of her, she continued to crawl away from her attacker. Her sobs became heavier and louder as the all-black male figure approached her holding up the wand that would provide her imminent death sentence.

Unable to stop them, tears started to roll down her cheeks as she wrapped both arms around her stomach in an unconscious gesture to protect her unborn child. _"Please God, spare the life of my baby, I beg you." _

In what seemed to be an immediate answer to her plea, the eyes of the Death Eater rolled back on his head and went limp after a blazing green killing curse hit him in full and forced him backwards. With nothing to ease the fall, she could perfectly hear the imminent sound of breaking bones and tearing flesh once the heavy weight of her attacker hit the ground.

It was then when an all-white, tall and slender figure stood up filling exactly the same spot the Death Eater occupied scarce seconds before, she thought it was an angel.

Her saviour's winning smirk dropped right of his face as he repaired on who she was. "Nymphadora?!"

She was this close to start complaining about being addressed by her name but she was stunned shortly after she found out the identity of her rescuer, preventing her from saying anything but one word. "Draco?!"

"I thought you were someone else." He mumbled stretching out a hand to help her to her feet.

But the moment she aimed to grab it, a tightening sensation spread around her lower abdomen, forcing her to hunch forward. "I'd prefer to remain in this position a little longer, until I calm myself a bit at least."

Draco kneeled by her side and meant to pad her shoulder but froze mid-way, staring at his own shaking hand. _"This dirt would never come off from my body. It'd always be there, even if I can't see it, I can feel it."_

Grabbing his reluctant hand in hers, she squeezed tight before pressing it against her bosom. "You've just saved our lives! I'll be eternally in debt with you!"

Without repairing in the use of plural in her sentence, Draco stared at Nymphadora with a blank look as distorted flashes of images and sounds assaulted him with no reason whatsoever. The more he tried to remember the events of the previous hours, the worse his headache became.

Draco instinctively pulled his hand away, smirking coldly. "Don't thank me. I've already told you I thought you were someone else."

And that mere thought alone crushed Draco's heart completely._ "How am I supposed to look at Luna in the eye or bring myself to touch her after what they've done to my body? I can't… I'm filthy, I'm…" _

She lifted her then purple eyes from the floor and chuckled despite herself. "Eitherway, I'm still grateful you came to the rescue."

Turning to face him, Nymphadora reached forward and gave Draco a hug without waiting for an invitation. He was soon caught up in the captivating perfume of her smooth skin. That exquisite scent of hers and the warmth of the embrace transported him to a place he'd visited only whenever he was close to Luna. Draco combed with his fingers her purplish pink hair before resting his hand on the back of her neck, caressing her skin softly. The second Draco realized what he'd just done, he felt completely embarrassed.

"I didn't mean to do that!" Utterly neurotic, he backed away from her as quick as possible.

Still, his amethyst blue eyes where somewhat glued to her then yellowish brown gems.

"It's just that you… that scent of yours…your skin…it smells exquisite…uhmm…nice. You really smell _nice._" Draco just wanted to slap himself back to his senses and stop babbling at once. "I apologize for that."

He couldn't stop feeling stupidly awkward by then, why had he apologized for in the first place? She was his cousin and he never really got along with her before, in fact he'd always hated her. What the hell was wrong with him?

Nymphadora laughed at his remark and not for a single second took what he'd done the wrong way. Still she was somewhat puzzled that Draco addressed her with such flattering words and even displayed a gesture of kindness to her.

"You're talking just like Remus before he found out that I was carrying his child." She chuckled, blushing.

"You're _pregnant_?" Draco blinked hard, taking the information in.

She was moved and teary-eyed. "Yes, I'm about eight months now."

She brushed to the side her long shawl and unbuttoned the thick traveling cloak she was wearing, revealing a modest and plain maternal dress that fit comfortable around her huge round belly.

"You say that like it's a good thing to carry the offspring of a werewolf inside you." He replied as his mind started spinning.

Her grin faded as the two of them remained sited there, growing quiet.

Draco closed his eyes shut and shuddered. _"So, a werewolf impregnated her, that's Nymphadora's problem but why do I feel as if all of the sudden every protective urge inside me exploded like a firecracker? Wait, this makes sense, she's a member of my family after all, my cousin, so I've got every right to feel this way. But again, why is affecting me that much and why does her scent remind me of Luna? Could it be that Nymphadora, being a pure-blood pregnant woman, is capable of triggering that enigmatic perfume around her because of her condition and only a few ones with special abilities such as myself thanks to the Ghoul's pact, and Lupin who's a werewolf could pick up the effects of those pheromones?"_

As the possibility of Luna carrying his child stuck him, Draco stifled with all his might being caught up by yet another imminent panic attack. _"No, that's impossible! I've always been careful and took special attention to every possible detail in order to avoid Luna from getting pregnant. The possibilities are null, zero, no way."_

The blond came back to his senses once Nymphadora's hand cupped softly his tight fist, bringing him back to reality.

"You went clammily pale all of a sudden, are you feeling okay Draco?" She felt his sweaty forehead and frowned, looking concerned.

"NO, I'M MOST DEFINITELY NOT OKAY!" He cried, hiding his head between his hands.

Nymphadora stifled yet another twisting pain and started rubbing her swollen tummy. "Oh my God, the baby's coming!"

Draco spun his head abruptly. "What?! You've just said you were eight months pregnant: that leaves a whole month at least for that moment to come."

She nodded and swallowed hard in between breaths. "The contractions…are coming faster… the baby's not waiting and…my water's broke."

He rose on his two feet and brushed back those silk blond blocks from his face before resting his hands on top of his head. "Let me take you to St. Mungo's."

The contractions felt like crawling ziz-zag lightings stinging Nymphadora's stomach in every possible direction.

She shook her head and looked up, fixing her then emerald green eyes on Draco as her face contorted with pain. "Too late, you've got to help me deliver this baby into the world."

"Right here, right now!?" Draco was on the verge of jumping out of his skin by then.

With a painful smile she nodded in silence as she started to breathe faster, rubbing her sore tummy in circles.

"How can you possible ask _me_ to do something like _that_?" The blond accused her as he brushed nervously his hands over his suit.

Nymphadora's face was flushing red and was sweating profusely. "For start…I feel safe…with you."

Draco's jaw locked, her words had taken him completely by surprise. After a brief moment he shrugged and sighed soundly as everything clicked inside his head. He was the only one around and she was a desperate first-time mother, such dangerous combination would definitely push Nymphadora to deposit her trust in the least expected person.

"_But I'd have to touch her…to…touch…her. No! I can't touch her with these hands! I'm tainted…my whole body stinks!" _Draco shook his head twice, his voice sounded a bit hysterical. "You understand that I have to _touch_ you in order to do that?!"

Nymphadora resisted the urge to roll her eyes, getting annoyed. "How are you supposed to help me if you don't?" She thought Draco was reluctant to touch her because he considered she was beneath him, but – tragically ironic – he thought it was the other way round. "Draco, can't you make an exception this time and put aside your prejudices towards me? I need your help. Please!"

Without wasting another minute, Draco raised his wand on top of his head, tracing a circle above them both as he conjured a protection spell. "In this starless sticking night, I summon your distant sparkle and sight. Oh, four cardinal points part the darkness and danger from mine and her side and bathe us both in the protection of your light. Outside this circle's bound sink all evil to the ground. So mote it be!"

Draco then proceeded to strip off his jacket, spreaded it on the floor and kneeled in front of her. Locking his amethyst blue eyes with hers, he said sharply. "Give me your shawl."

He transfigurated into a comfy cushion and placed it under her hips, raising them high enough in order to provide a better angle for the baby to come out.

"I'm scared." She couldn't stop herself from trembling as she watched the blond washing and scrubbing meticulously his hands.

Draco arched one brow as he finished drying his hands in the air, turning clockwise both wrists. "Of course you are."

"But you're not scared, are you? You know what to do, right?" Nymphadora asked in between taking deep breaths with a worried look plastered on her blushed face.

"Right…" He repeated absentmindly, without looking at her this time.

Mentally preparing himself for what was coming, Draco plucked up courage. Gulping imperceptibly, he pulled down her panties and parted her legs to the sides. He tried to act as mature and professional as possible, but being exposed _that_ up close to the female genitalia that wasn't Luna's made Draco feel extremely uneasy and awkward.

Draco parted a bit more Nymphadora's flexed legs to the sides, lifting her dress over the base of her stomach and finally looked at her in the eye.

"I'm trained to kill with and without using magic. For the latter, a wide knowledge of anatomy is mandatory to know whether to strike a sensitive point, bone juncture or vital organ to bring down the enemy. On the other hand, in case I fail and get defeated, I also how to attend a wound and relieve the pain of an injury with and without the use of magic too." He explained in a very matter-of-fact way.

After taking a sound breath, Draco confessed. "But I know nothing about delivering babies, so I'll just relate everything I know of the human body and apply it to this case in particular."

He then traced one hand clockwise over her tummy, sliding his fingertips with a soft massage to feel the position of the baby and make sure it was secure to let Nymphadora push when the contractions became stronger.

Draco's long fingers traced exquisitely gently her skin, giving her the shivers. "You've got a soft and delicate touch, better than any medi-wizard."

He stopped half-way and frowned. _"That shouldn't be there." _

Blowing the fringe away from his nose, Draco spoke with a marked scolding raising tone."Nymphadora, stop what you're doing this very instant!"

"I hate when people call..." But the harsh-cold look of Draco forced her to stop mid-sentence.

He made sure to adjust his tone to a smoother one before speaking again. "If you feel like pushing, try breathing faster and in short gasps, start panting. You've got to delay as much as you can the urges to push."

Getting frantic and desperate, she started choking herself with her sobs. "What's wrong?! Is the baby okay?!"

"Whenever you want to get out of a place, you aim towards the nearest exit, right? We'll, the only exit here is down, its head should be positioned at six o'clock but it's currently at three. This is probably due of its anticipated arrival, or because of its not-so-bright genes and lousy sense of direction." Draco said, not bothering to hold back his sarcasm.

"This means that…" Nympadora found herself out of breath, her eyes lost all colors and her complexion became as white as snow in a beat.

"There's no way it can come out from where it's currently positioned." Draco sentenced with a toneless voice.

But when she repaired on the Draco's cunning smirk, Nympadora suddenly caught her breath. There was a reason why he'd remained calm and unmoved: Draco had an ace up his sleeve, like always.

"A significant portion of the human body is water. Since that _thing_ inside you is surrounded by liquid, I just need to control its environment in order to direct and turn its head facing down so that it can come out." The blond concluded arching an accomplished eyebrow.

Nymphadora's pupils dilated as her eyes switched to a deep magenta color. "Can you actually do that?!"

Draco rolled tiredly his eyes and didn't bother to reply this time. He placed his left hand over her round belly and clenched tight his wand with the other. "From the sacred signs of the four elements combined, I invoke thee, mother-nature to part one from another and grant the power and stability of each elemental corner stone. I invoke the element of water that flows in its eternal cycle of stream to stream to follow the command I hold inside. With harm to none, let this spell begun!"

An intense and vivid silvery turquoise swirl of light erupted from Draco's wand and wrapped Nymphadora's stomach with its luminescence. He looked up and asked her. "How does that feel?"

She bit her lip. "A bit cold and it tickles, but in a good way."

Draco firmly but cautiously pressed the palm of his left hand against her stomach and started to rotate it in unison with the wand on his other hand, pointing downwards. "Let me know in case it hurts."

She nodded but said nothing, whatever the blond was doing seemed to be going just as planned.

After a couple of minutes, Draco removed his hand from Nymphadora's belly and flashed a winning smirk. "It's done. At least now it's positioned where it should be."

And that was when the contractions regain intensity, the pain increased and she started to scream. "Oh God, it hurts! I thought I would be able to pull this through, but I can't. Draco, I don't think I can make it!"

The louder her screams, the more and more desperate Nymphadora became with herself for not being able to cope with the situation and the more annoyed and irritated Draco became with her for being so weak.

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself! You can do this, come on! Fill your mind with other thoughts. If it weren't for Lupin, nothing of this would have happened to you in first place. Cursing might help you to psyche up and confront the pain, you know?" Draco encouraged her in what sounded more like and attempt to sow discord than helping her cousin to distract her mind.

But it seemed to have worked miracles, because in no time Nymphadora was cursing with all her might, regaining confidence in the process. "That bastard! I'll kill him. I swear I'll kill him for doing this to me!"

"Yes, keep doing that, with feeling! But don't forget to push. That's it, you're doing great!" The mischievous smirk that broke out on Draco's face was contagious. Nymphadora found herself mirroring it within seconds.

When Draco saw the baby's head popping out, he swallowed hard, containing his respiration in a desperate attempt to stifle a crawling nausea. He then cupped the baby's head with his hands and moved it slightly downward as her cousin continued to push.

Once the baby was finally out, Draco's cheeks developed a sick shade of green from the piling sickness on the back of his throat. Stopping for the occasional bout of nausea, Draco cut the cord and performed a cleansing spell to clear from fluids the new-born's mouth and nose to prevent it from filling its lungs with liquid or choke after crying.

Now that the baby's body was free from that gross and sticky liquid, Draco could finally check if that soft and small bundle of human flesh and bones was in order. He stripped off his shirt as he held with his free shaking hand the baby and continued with the inspection - two eyes, two ears, one mouth, one nose, two hands with five fingers each and two feet with five toes each made the final okay - before wrapping the baby with his immaculate white shirt, placing it on top of Nymphadora's bosom to grant that much needed maternal warmth to the new-born.

The moment the baby started crying and gained a healthy rosy color; Draco forced himself to fill his lungs and sighed soundly as though releasing a heavy burden while washing thoroughly his hands. He was still shaking like a leaf though.

"We did it! Draco, we did it!" Happy tears rolled down Nymphadora's cheeks as she grabbed the blond by the collar of his t-shirt and pulled him closer in a tight group hug.

Wrinkling his nose in disgust, Draco pointed with his index finger at the baby. "Unless it's some kind of malformation, that _thing_ is a _he_."

"Look, Teddy likes you!" Nymphadora celebrated when the baby wrapped with one of his tiny hands the tip of Draco's finger and started to make funny sounds that resembled little giggles.

Draco was struggling with an odd and foreign form of repulsion. That had just been the noisiest, messiest and revolting experience of his life. He sighed and looked away, closing briefly his eyes as his head felt ready to split into two from the madness of that evening. Once he opened them, he caught sight from the corner of the eye the silhouette of Lupin slowly approaching them. Draco noticed that the man was clutching from one injured leg as he walked slowly towards the three.

"_And now he does show up."_ He narrowed his eyes and shot a piercing stare at his former professor.

There was no time to explain anything so the blond Slytherin got up immediately and ordered. "Take my cousin and her baby to St. Mungo's." Fixing his stare on the man's wound, Draco added. "And you better hurry if you plan on keeping that leg attached to your body."

With the intention to knock Lupin from his blissful trance of looking at his son for the first time and set him into action, Draco raised his voice. "What the Hell are you waiting for?! Your woman and child need qualified medical attention!"

Nymphadora aimed for his arm. "Wait! Draco, please come with us."

An ice-cold shiver crawling down the spine told the blond Slytherin that he'd made a terrible wrong decision by leaving Blaise alone all that time.

Pulling away, Draco's face transfixed then with a disgusting frown. "You've made me waste valued time already."

As he got closer to the spot he'd left his best friend, the blonde's heartbeats increased their speed abruptly to the point of a heart-attack. But something, a desperate and helplessly female crying, made Draco stopped abruptly half-way.

It was clear that woman was in trouble, _deep_ trouble, but again the whole cemetery was an unleashed Hell in itself. Stamping a foot on the ground – mentally cursing himself - he turned round and started scanning through the chaos the origin of that heart-breaking cry.

The moment he set eyes on those two figures in front of him, Draco halted abruptly. There was Hermione crying her heart out as she kept fighting against Mad Eye in order to get herself free from his arms and run towards Ron who was already surrounded by the devouring flames of the Fiendfire, it was obvious that the red-haired git was going to die in a horrible and painful way.

Draco's morbid smirk and amused complexion slowly turned into a tight lipped frown. He couldn't erase from his mind the latent images of chaos and destruction, so many lives ruined, so many families completely destroyed. Death was everywhere but there was also a glimpse of hope, the promise of life was still latent. At that time he was seriously questioning his sanity as he weighted an option inside his head. His long and slender fingers reached instantly above his t-shirt to touch the medallion around his neck.

A mixture of burdening and foreign feelings crushed deep inside the Slytherin as images of Nymphadora's newborn flashed in front of his eyes along with the realization that Hermione was also expecting a child._"Securing a future for this new de-generation or having no future at all…either way…the world is doomed to go to Hell."_

Draco slided the Swastika charm out and placed over his heart, as if making a wish upon it for good luck before dashing full-speed towards the flames, catching the shocked faces of Hermione and Mad Eye in his way, but that only made him run even faster towards Ron.

The Gryffindor kept his watery eyes closed and was starting to choke as he kept coughing by the lack of oxygen and vice air around him. Ron was kneeling on the ground, suffocating slowly with the dense smoke of the flames. Unexpectedly, he felt a hand grabbing him violently by his forearm, pulling him up to his two feet, then an arm lifting him from the ground and a bony shoulder blade crushed against his stomach. Ron's head was swinging upside down, as it balanced from side to side with each step his rescuer took and that only made him felt dizzier as the blood concentrated on his splitting skull. He tried to open his eyes, but his tears prevented him from seeing past his eyelids. A warm breeze past by him as he felt that someone carrying him away from the flames into what seemed to be a clear and Friendfire danger-free spot before getting thrown to the ground without the slightest delicacy, as if he were garbage.

"Ouch." Ron barely moaned before passing out.

Draco slowly slicked back his blond hair as he brought himself back into order. He meticulously dusted his white t-shirt and pants off and checked them over for damage, luckily they remained intact.

"Malfoy!" Hermione called from behind.

By the time he turned round, Draco's chin collided against her sweaty forehead.

"You've saved the life of my Ron. I don't know how to start thanking you!" She said, rubbing her forehead.

Draco instantly held his breath and took a couple of steps back, feeling his stomach tight into a knot for such violent closeness. She was about to open her mouth again when the Slytherin placed one finger to his lips to indicate silence and looked up at the cloudy sky. A crack of thunder followed, as Draco's pale face glowed when the thunder pealed again.

Hermione checked Ron's condition and realized he was going to make it despite such terrifying nearly-death experience. "Wait, please!"

Waving carelessly a hand in the air, Draco started walking away from her without even turning round this time. "That git passed out because his lungs are blocked from all the smoke he inhaled, it's up to you to keep him alive."

Hermione nodded in silence and smiled knowingly. She'd been right about Draco, although extremely reserved to the point of coldness that Slytherin did care about other people rather than his own person.

Mad Eye stepped in the blonde's way, his magical eye jumped out of the socket at he inspected the young man with caution. "You've saved that boy's life."

"No, I haven't." Draco's face muscles tighten and his eyes dilated a little. "I'm just delaying the inevitable. On a large enough time line, the survival rate for everyone will drop to zero."

The old man seemed to be powerfully attracted by the look of strength in Draco's eyes. "But you still rescued him from the flames. Why?"

Draco pushed himself from the Auror's path and replied tonelessly. "Because I was the only one who could."

There was an amused smile crooking Mad Eye's lips. "You're going to go far, boy."

The old man's words caused Draco to smirk, yet in an uncomfortable way as a familiar and feared voice hissed pass over his ears. _"A leader is judged by his commitment. Offering yourself for a cause only works if it succeeds. Triumphing over obstacles is the best way of shouting to the world that you've won again." _

When the blond Slytherin arrived at the place where he'd left his friend, he open wide his amethyst blue eyes as his heart missed a beat: Blaise was gone.

Draco let himself fall dispiritedly on his knees as his father's words assaulted him again with no mercy. _"I'll find your weakness and turn it against you, son."_

At last Draco had finally recovered his fractured memory. The immediate sense of relief that struck him once he realized he hadn't been raped at all – he even found himself blushing madly for being _abused _by no other than his own wife - blended almost instantly with a piling anger that threatened to burn him to the core.

"_It's payback time, Lucius." _Draco said to himself, his eyes glittering eerily.

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**A/N:**

Woohoo! Long chapter indeed!

To all the Weasleys worshippers I've got something to say:

**FIVE DOWN YA BEITCHES!!! **(Copy & paste this in your review if you support my cause)

or … flame me all you want, constructive criticism is always welcomed!

FAQ: 

_Is Draco losing edge?_

First of all: Draco would never _lose_ anything! He might trade, leave behind or exchange one thing for another to adjust himself better to the present situation, just like a chameleon.

_Is Draco shy with the ladies?_

He's what I'd call a true gentleman. Awwww…isn't he cuuuuuuuuuuuute? :drools:

_Does Draco hate Hermione?_

He can't stand the sight of her…neither the smell of her…uhmmm…got the picture?

_Why did Draco save Ron?_

Only to prove that he was the only one who could, nothing personal. (I think Draco made his point clear in this chapter, but if you've got your doubts, here's – once again - the explanation why he did it.)

_Which Weasley I hate the most?_

Ginny… she's a complete waste of ink!

Got questions of your own? REVIEW and I promise I'll reply. 

"On a large enough time line, the survival rate for everyone will drop to zero." - _Fight Club _written by Chuck Palahniuk. One of my fave movies & book besides the HP series of course. I've got the PDF format of this amazing novel, PM me with your email if you're interest.


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N:**

A terrible truth comes to light…sinking Draco & Luna even more into darkness…

Another long chapter, I must be inspired. _**Don't forget to REVIEW…thanks!**_

**CHAPTER XXVII**

"_Would you mind if I hurt you? Understand that I need to  
Wish that I had other choices, than to harm the one I love…_

_I know I'd better stop trying, you know that there's no denying  
I won't show mercy on you now, I know I should stop believing  
I know that there's no retrieving, it's over now, what have you done?_

_I've been waiting for someone like you but now you are slipping away  
What have you done now? Why does fate make us suffer?  
There's a curse between us, between me and you. _

_I will not fall, won't let it go, we will be free when it ends…"_

_(WITHIN TEMPTATION – "What Have You Done")_

Despite the burning soreness of her eyes and splitting headache, with the passing of the minutes the dirty blond haired girl was starting to differ with more accuracy the different shades of light and darkness that haunted the hermetic room in which she'd been confined to.

She could feel only half her body awake, from the waist down she felt numb, probably the residual effects of a stunning spell. As her hands kept testing the strength of her ties, she tried to stretch her arms a little more. Without paying attention to the stinging pain surrounding her bleeding wrists, she traced the soft fabric of the armchair rests with her fingertips and pulled harder to wrench free.

"Even if you were capable of untying yourself, I wouldn't allow you make it to the door alive." A masculine harsh voice broke the silence abruptly with a tint of vibrating anger.

Luna blinked hard, trying to adjust her foggy vision field. "Where am I?"

She heard that man walking closer to her and then two cold fingers touching her chin, lifting it up. "This is my home, Malfoy's Manor." He replied as a warm breath brushed her left cheek.

There was a flash of light and suddenly Luna noticed that she was locked inside a brightly illuminated and expensively furnitured bedroom. Her eyes hurt as if countless needles were pocking at them non-stop, but she found herself needing to keep them open for she realized who that man was: no other than Lucius Malfoy.

He smirked coldly and held her chin firmly in his hand, pausing to study her face. "The moment I saw you, I knew you were the daughter of Violet Corvin. Still you're nothing but her shadow. Her perfect genes have been tainted with the ones of the Lovegood's, what a sinful act." Welcoming Luna's uneasiness, he added with a vicious tone in his voice. "Oh yes, I knew your mother… _intimately_."

Luna's complexion was haunted by a sudden shock and surprising fear that rippled in electric waves all through her body the moment his nose touched the side of her face.

Lucius whispered in her ear. "Do you know who the sole responsible for Violet's death is?"

She held her breath and refused to reply, not because she didn't knew how to, but because she simply couldn't bring her mouth to speak a single word out of shock.

Lucius clenched both hands into tight fists. "Xenophilius Lovegood!"

"NO!" Luna yelled.

Lucius ran a hand through his long white hair, his gray eyes held on hers a frozen moment. "The only reason I haven't killed that bastard is because the poison of his guilt is worse than death."

"My mother…she was…testing a spell and something…something went terrible wrong." Luna replied between deep and hollow sobs.

Lucius continued to study Luna's features silently while tracing with his ice-cold fingertips the contour of her pale face. "Violet was the best at charms. One day – pushed by Xenophilius' jealousy and suspicion - she decided to get rid of a Magic Seal marked on her body. She'd come up with countless of failed experiments through the years, the last spell she cast on herself backfired and end up killing her."

She swallowed deeply and frowned, looking at him through her eyelids. "You've cast that Magic Seal on my mother?!"

Lucius hesitated as if uncertain he should speak his words to her. "The day Violet and I got our flesh burned with the Dark Mark and became Death Eaters we also got engaged and exchanged our Lifespan Seals."

"Lifespan Seals?" Luna asked as her curiosity piqued.

He nodded and reached up to play with a lock of her dirty blond hair, but she pulled away and that only fueled his rising anger. "A Lifespan Seal holds within itself a raw extract of magic and power of the wizard or witch who gave it away in order to protect his or her most precious person. The exchange of the Lifespan Seals is only possible when there's an unique and special union between two partners, in other words, when they're soul-mates. Whether they're aware or not of their feelings or if they decide to do it mutually or just one of them initiates the transferring, the result is the same: an unbreakable bond is form between the two."

Lucius then leaned in closer to Luna and traced his fingers through her collarbone before continuing. "When the transference is completed, the seals are then marked on the flesh of this two partners. The symbol is displayed on the same part of the body but on opposite sides, as if being reflected through a mirror. The cyclic symbols of the seals come in pair; each pair of symbols is unrepeatable, just like the uniqueness in each couple of soul-mates."

"You should have seen the seal on Violet's left shoulder many times." He said, smirking sadly to himself.

Luna shook her head, denying his words. "That was a birth mark."

She was half-prepared for it when Lucius slapped her across the face with enough force to break her neck as Luna's face spun violently to a side. "That was _my_ seal traced on _her_ flesh!"

Lucius stood up and started to strip off his jacket right in front of Luna. Once he finished unbuttoning his shirt, he threw it over the floor and kneeled besides the armchair where she'd been tied up. "Look!"

That body of his was perfect, not as slender as Draco's for Lucius' musculature was more toned and accented, but both Slytherins had the same exquisite smooth and pearl white skin and enviable bone structure.

"Look at the seal _she _gave _me_!" He ordered, sinking his harsh stare into her blood-shot eyes.

Luna refused to look at first, but then she turned her head slowly facing him and once she repaired on his upper body, she froze. Her foggy eyes dilated in full when she noticed that there was a red mark traced on his right shoulder. The round symbol, about the diameter of a snitch, looked like a spiral sword, with no end and no beginning: it was the same as the one she remembered imprinted on her mother's flesh.

Leaving his jacket and shirt forgotten on the floor, Lucius approached a small dressing cabinet and poured some liquor on a crystal goblet before he began pacing barefoot around the room dressed only with a pair of pants. "The exchanging of the Lifespan Seals is a blessing in itself but it could turn into a curse whenever two lovers, who are not soul-mates, exchange them. This can only be achieved if one of them is bearer of a powerful Dark Magic. They don't get the symbols burned on their flesh for they remain invisible and only achieve temporal permanence when looking intently into the other's eyes, acquiring at the same time a higher level of synchronization between the two bodies and minds."

Luna followed him with her sore eyes while trying to burn his words indelibly upon her brain. Acknowledging for the first time the origin of hers and Draco's unique _connection_ and why their eyes reacted the way they did before blending themselves permanently with the Inferae's Ghoul Pact.

Lucius looked more and more enraged, to the point where Luna could tell he wouldn't hold the boiling fury inside him any longer. He threw the empty goblet against the wall and covered his face between his hands, in what seemed an attempt to calm himself down.

Walking intently towards the dirty blond haired girl, he grabbed her face with both hands, pointing it back towards him, but Luna instinctively closed her eyes shut, afraid of getting hit again.

She could feel him getting dangerously closer. His lips brushed hers as he spoke again. "These Seals are meant to create a strong bond between two partners as long as they're soul-mates, in case of imminent death, a Lifespan Seal might even extend the life of the dying partner for a short period, providing a slow but also less painful death. But if those two people are not soul-mates then the bond is tainted and transforms itself into a powerful curse making difficult…I dare say _impossible_…to live one without the other, sinking them into an abyss of madness and despair."

Luna opened her eyes, her pupils dilated in full, taking it all in.

Without removing his judging stare on her, his cold hands started to rub her bruised wrists. "The Seals exchanged between two soul-mates are the only ones that can't be removed, they last forever. But the ones of those lovers who are not soul-mates…there's a way to erase them, and I happened to know exactly how to do that."

Lucius untied her and lifted Luna to her feet, slamming her body up against his. Luna didn't need to see the look in his eyes this time to know his intentions were evil.

"Now you understand the difference between Violet and I and your relationship between you and my son?!" He asked, caging her neck with a tight grip.

Without waiting for her to say a word, Lucius carried Luna bridal-style a couple of feet before throwing her onto his bed. "Violet and I were soul-mates, blessed and destined to be together, but my son and you are _not_! You two have been cursed and what you share is a taboo! I won't let Draco get lost and detoured from the path he's been forged since birth!"

He joined her in the bed, pressing his half-naked body on top of hers as he encircled both her wrists with his hands over her head, grinning viciously.

Getting desperate, Luna started chocking beneath his weight. "You could have never been my mother's soul-mate! She only loved one man in her life, and that was my father!"

Lucius threw a punch to the pillow scarce inches from one of Luna's moisten cheeks. "I was the only man in her life. She only loved _me_!"

As he adjusted his position to face her, stroking her long dirty blond hair with one hand, he replied tonelessly. "I bet you knew Violet was a Death Eater, but not that she betrayed the Dark Lord by refusing to convert the rest of her family and that's when it all fell apart."

Luna closed shut her eyes, tears were starting to fall from her cheeks. "I never knew my mother's family, that's because…you…you…killed them!"

He grabbed her by her shoulders he started shaking her violently, as if wanting Luna to wake up into reality. "The loyalty I owed to the Dark Lord should have come first, but I chose Violet over Him. I've re-located the members of her family in a place where no Death Eater, not even the Dark Lord, could even find. But Violet was already a marked, she couldn't follow her family, so I placed her somewhere else and erased her memories of her family and previous life in order to keep her safe."

Looking defiantly into his cold grey eyes, she shot back. "I don't believe you! If you indeed are my mother's soul-mate, the man who sacrificed everything in order to protect her and her family, you'd never dare to hurt me!"

"That man, the one that Violet knew, died the very same day she started a new life." Lucius replied as her eager eyes traced up and down Luna's body.

He kept rubbing himself on top of her and started to unbutton her blouse, murmuring into her ear. "Do you wonder why your eyes sore that much? That's because I've already set things in motion, it will only take Draco to look into your eyes to be free from your Seal along with every bond that you two shared until now."

"NO!" The escalating sense of desperation and impotence threatened to numb her even more, but Luna wasn't going to stop fighting back.

Even with her diminished strength, Luna struggled fiercely with Lucius, but it was no use, half her body was still unconscious due to the stunning spell. "I'd never give in to you!"

"That's what makes things more interesting." He smirked mercilessly.

She narrowed her eyes and spitted at Lucius, in reply he twisted her bleeding wrists, forcing her to open her mouth with a sharp cry as he thrust his tongue. Luna locked her jaw, trapping Lucius tongue inside her mouth, in a fair attempt to ripe it completely from its core. Lucius pulled himself away from her with an agony moan and pressed a hand over his bleeding mouth. With his free hand he whipped a fist at Luna, sending her flying from the bed onto the floor.

Lifting himself from the bed, he walked towards her, picked Luna up from the floor by the throat before pinning her back against the wall. There was a look of murderous rage settling in his soulless gray eyes.

"How dare you, filthy little cunt!" He spitted blood in her face as he talked.

Luna could barely breathe by then as dark spots started to appear from the corner of her eyes.

She then clenched both her hands over Lucius vicious grip, burying her fingernails in his flesh, returning the killing stare. "That sounded so…desperate and so…_powerless_…coming from you."

Lucius shook his head in disbelief at her words and when he turned to face her again he saw a fist being swung at him. The punch, which held the force of a cornered wild beast, knocked Lucius backwards and threw Luna against the wall from the residual impact. Luna pressed her sore knuckles against her bosom and let herself slide onto the floor, breathing hard and hollow.

"I despise being awoken by other than my beloved." Luna's voice seemed foreign as it dripped with that new _persona_.

Her hands drifted down to her cheeks and rested them on her violated throat. "This body is not something for _you_ to be tampering with."

Lucius' face paled as confusion cracked his voice slightly. "_What _are you?"

Luna smirked coldly and started tracing random patterns over her belly with her fingertips without removing her sore eyes from Lucius. "I doubt you'd live to see my true face, but I dare say you know exactly how I'd end up looking like."

The bedroom's door blasted open and five Death Eaters come into view. "We heard strange noises. Is everything okay, Sir?"

Lucius picked himself slowly from the floor and ordered. "Blindfold her and lock her up in the solitary cell!"

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As he paced silently Malfoy's Manor west wing, Draco found himself in an opulent and expensively designed corridor carpeted in lush deep gray, with a softer, pallid ivory color lining the walls. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to psyche himself up before taking one step forward and tuned his senses, scanning the place for any movement, scent, thought, or whisper.

He smirked to himself as the image of his Head of House flashed inside his mind._ "Enter action with boldness. If you're unsure of a course of action, do not attempt it. Your doubts and hesitations will infect your is dangerous, better to enter with boldness. Any mistakes you commit through audacity are easily corrected with more audacity." _

When he opened his amethyst blue eyes again, he'd already form mental map and set his course of action. "I will Sir."

Expressionless, Draco made his way toward the next room, he felt more irritated by the chill in the atmosphere than the feel of death around the place. He stopped on his tracks when he came across a dozen of Death Eaters who were jealousy guarding the entrance of the dungeons. The men looked heavily built and despite the fact that none was wearing their masks, they looked intimidating enough. The skinny Slytherin knew those guys could easily crush him like a chopstick if he was careless.

"Are you afraid of the dark?" Draco asked them without waiting for an answer as the candles of the wall sconces that illuminated the corridor flickered briefly and then they extinguished completely. "You should…those who live in the darkness wander aimlessly."

Before he finished the sentence the sound of bone crushing, painful moans and glass breaking filled the pitch-black room. By the time the fire tongues of the candles came to life again, the figure of the blond Slytherin was the only one standing, walking over the battered bodies that carpeted the floor.

Lucius glanced over his shoulder, catching by the corner of the eye the bodies of two Death Eaters rolling down the stairs of the dungeons before getting smashed against the wall.

From the stairs rest, Draco looked intently at his father, keeping his face a well trained mask of unemotional purpose and prepared for anything. "I'm back."

Lucius stiffed slightly before straightening his body to face his son and replied sarcastically. "That explains the overwhelming joy I feel right now."

The large group of witches and wizards – Draco estimated more than two hundred taking into account there were twelve cells and about twenty people in each - held captive in the underground cells of the Malfoy's Manor dungeons turned their heads at the sight of a skinny teenager of messy silk blond hair all over his pale face standing at the end of the stars. He was dressed in immaculate white with a linen V neck t-shirt and tailored cashmere silk pants.

Behind those untamed blocks of his, a pair of strategically cold amethyst blue gems scanned the cells with a keen eye, searching silently the whereabouts of a certain dirty blond haired girl - Luna - and a black jet haired teenager of matching eyes - Blaise –

Draco's pupils dilated in full when he caught sight of someone held captive in a solitary cell on the very end, chained to the floor and blindfolded: it was Luna. She looked unharmed, at least on the outside. But that view of hers made him feel remotely relieved as he recalled the torments Lucius used to inflict on his prisoners. That mere thought threatened to split his controlled psyche in countless fractals of insanity_. _No. He couldn't let those feelings torment him, not yet. He had to trust in Luna's strength, after all, she was a Malfoy.

Blowing out a tired breath, Draco stretched lazily his arms before entwining his fingers at the back of his neck. "Let us pretend that you are a devoted father, and I am a role-model of a son. This is a pleasant fiction, is it not? Let this people go, they've got nothing to do with us and what we're doing here."

Lucius studied Draco, the blond didn't just talk crazy…he actually _looked _crazy. "Don't tell me that you're worried about this people's wellbeing."

Draco flashed a disgustingly revolted face that came almost naturally. "Actually I'm worried about having unwanted witnesses at our little _family_ reunion."

Pushing himself from the wall, the elder Slytherin crossed his arms over his chest and sneered. "That means you are ready to cooperate and join me then?"

Draco hesitated an internal instant before replying. "No."

Lucius' fragile composure was on trial right from the start. "You just can't say _no_ to me!"

Arching a playful eyebrow, the blond replied. "I just did."

Father and son looked at each other eye-to-eye for what seemed a never-lasting moment. Some of the people in the cells blinked their surprise while others raised eyebrows, looking concerned.

Lucius came closer; he was inches from his son's face. "This is not negotiable."

Without much interest, Draco tossed out. "Every damn thing in life is negotiable: you know it better than me."

Combing his long silver white hair back with one hand, Lucius turned quickly to look at Luna before asking. "What is that girl to you, son?"

Draco followed his father's gaze as he fought against a twisting knot in his throat. "Don't insult me by grouping me together with any of this people. Like I've said before, this is between you and me."

"How about playing straight-forward for a change?" Seemed that Lucius was starting to have his fun with the whole situation as well, he smirked amusingly to himself as he started pacing around Draco, with both hands behind his back. "Were you that desperate to mean something to someone that the end justified the means?"

Draco was petrified by those words that conspired against the self-controlled tone in his voice. "I'd like to understand what you're saying _father_, but I'm hopelessly clueless."

Lucius laughed with a deep, resounding voice. "Is Luna Lovegood the woman you're so blindly obsessed with?"

Draco meticulously studied Lucius' course of action: it was evident that his father wanted to aim straight at his weakness, rip it open and expose it for the vultures to feed from it. But the many _tests_ his father used to inflict on Draco's character had finally reached fruition and turned the blond Slytherin into a self-assertive man, someone who certainly wouldn't let other's judgments and criticisms towards him get to his skin. That's why he couldn't care less what people think about him, or what Lucius might come up with in order to bring him down, but Draco wouldn't let Luna to be dragged along. So in order to protect her, he'd have to do something to divert the attention from her…something flavoured with a certain _payback _scent.

Slowly, Draco shook his head. "I'm not _obsessed _with her or any women for that matter."

The blonde's frown altered instantly into an ice-cold heartless smirk as the images of four aligned tombs – the ones of Harry, Voldemort, Lucius and Neville - flashed past his eyes making him sigh soundly with morbid bliss. "But I confess I've developed quite a _fixation_ for certain men."

An exasperated growl left Lucius irritated mouth as he kept seizing Draco from head to toe. "I never thought you were to change _that _much while I was away."

The blond displayed an immutable face but his voice denoted a bitter and sarcastic tone. "There's no reason to be jealous _father_: you are one of the chosen ones."

Lucius laughed out loud at Draco's sick attempt of a joke and even allow himself blush a little.

"Whenever you finished beating the Hell out of me, you used to undress me while checking for damage. As a child I wanted to believe you did that because you felt guilty, then I discarded completely the idea and convinced myself that you did that to humiliate me even more. But as I grew up I've realized that it'd never been about _me_, it'd always been about _you_." Draco paused as he stifled a crawling nausea. "You just used your own son as an excuse to inflate your ego and get your rocks off with such display of power as I lied naked, bleeding and barely-conscious in front of you."

He chuckled mercilessly as he looked at Draco. "I won't let you make fun of me."

"Come on! You've already set the stage and procure the public. You know that you perform better whenever there's an audience!" Draco looked at the pitiful souls locked up in the cells around them and smirked sourly. "Oh yes, there's so much to add to my father's reputation besides his long-earned fame of an unbeatable womanizer."

Lucius looked away hiding the turmoil bubbling up inside of him. "You want to turn this all around me, son? You're the one who's hiding his true intentions from the ones you claim to protect!"

"I'm more than willing to show the world that I'm my father's son and everything that memorable fact implies! There's no reason why I should hide the way you brought me up and everything I went through. It's because of all those things you did to me that I'd been able to survive up to this day. I'm grateful for your shaping me into the man I am today, I truly am." Draco could tell from his father's sick face that the fragility of his anger was at his limit and he rejoiced himself with that.

"Enough_, _son!" The elder Slytherin roared.

Draco started to laugh in a very scary and creepy way that made the hairs on the back of everybody's neck stand up. He then made a very subtle gesture with his hand for Lucius to come closer. "This _whipping-boy_ has misbehaved again. How exactly are you going you punish him this time, _daddy_?"

The sound of shocking gasps and contained breathings echoed on the walls of the dungeons. The blushed and astonished faces of the women were priceless; most of them rushed to cover their children eyes as the men opened their eyes wide as saucers matching them with their open jaws. Draco's lack of shame performance might have been rejected by the dull and rigid Wizardry Theatrical Academy but it definitely secured a permanent place in the darkest fantasies of most of the people present.

Lucius looked that he was trying with all his might to keep himself focused, but the burning sensation washed over him. "CRUCIO!"

Just like Draco had expected, in such desperate reaction the elder Slytherin didn't repair on the fact that inside the dungeons there was this heavy jinxed atmosphere procured by the blond moments before stepping inside the place. Despite the fact that it disappeared the moment a spell was cast on the immediate area, it had cost Lucius to lose temporary hold of his wand as it flew a couple of feet away from him.

"Nah-ah…be careful, you're getting emotional." Draco said mockingly after casting a stunning spell that rendered the man onto the floor.

Pointing his wand at the locks on the cells, the young Slytherin yelled. "Bombarda maxima!" And every cell blasted its door open with a unison deafening sound.

The dense smoke of the blastings tainted the atmosphere providing a most effective smoke-screen for everybody to run away. Pointing his wand to the side of his neck, Draco exclaimed. "Sonorus!"

The blond made a fast scan of the people present, mostly young families, before addressing the heads of each group. "Guard your women and children and get yourself organized. Those who are fit take care of your eldest and injured. Lead your people through the stairs on your right. There is a secret passage behind a burgundy and gold tapestry that leads to the back-side of the manor's garden and to your freedom. MOVE!"

Draco spun his head round, a group of boys and girls about his age remained there watching him, mesmerized by his powerful, resolved character and eager to help him...whatever _that_ meant.

The Slytherin didn't bother to inquire about how those teenagers – who looked pathetically helpless and remotely capable to defend themselves - could actually _help _him, so he inquired. "What made you believe that _I _could find in _you_ any use whatsoever?"

The small group looked deeply burdened and beyond ashamed. They sheepishly lowered their heads and turned round, mumbling countless of apologetic words.

"Good. I'd hate to be giving the wrong impression." Draco arched one eyebrow, smirking icily.

But then the blond Slytherin repaired on a woman and her daughter, he didn't know who they were, but he could tell right away their pure-blood status. The girl was about Draco's age and she was smiling candidly at him, so was her mother. Draco frowned slightly, questioning. There was _something_ about that girl that made Draco feel uneasy: those enigmatic amber eyes hypnotized him.

The girl unclasped a gold pin from her scarf and handled it to Draco. "Please, accept this as a token of gratitude."

Draco found accepting it in spite of himself and once in his palm he inspected closely the jewel. It featured the profiles of two winged dragons with entwirled bodies. One had a red obsidian gemstone eye and the other a blue azurite gemstone eye: it looked like an ancient coat of arms. He'd seen that before but at that particular moment he couldn't recall where exactly.

"You're a wise and fierce guardian, may the gods be with you always." The girl's mother whispered to him with a soft musical voice.

Once the Slytherin looked up, the woman and the girl were no longer there; instead he caught sight of two other figures that tried to pass unnoticed among the crowd.

"Hey, you two!" Draco called out, pocketing the pin in his pants.

Cornelius Fudge and Dolores Umbridge froze and turned their backs to face the blond Slytherin, their faces were paper-white.

"You _owe_ me." Draco paused as a peculiar thought entered his mind. "Next time we cross our paths I'd collect your debts in full, no exceptions."

Both their faces twisted in disgusted frowns, they nodded without saying a word and rushed to the exit.

Slashing through the dense atmosphere like a sword, Draco's slender silhouette dashed towards the last cell on the very bottom, the one he saw Luna being held captive. He noticed that the door remained closed, without a doubt it was the result of a far complex spell cast on the lock and those bars that prevented it from opening with a simple blasting spell.

"Luna!" Chocking with his own desperation, Draco pressed his face against the bars. "Did Lucius touch you?!"

"Draco, this is a trap!" Luna warned him as she tried to free herself from the restrains and rush to where Draco was, but adding to the fact that she was blindfolded, she kept falling on the floor from her lack of strength.

"I know, but I can't abandon you because of that." He replied in a tense patronizing tone before he asked again. "Luna, did that fucker hurt you?"

She crawled towards him the length her strains allowed. "I didn't give him that satisfaction. I fought back, just like you taught me to."

"That's my princess." He flashed a winning smirk and soothed her. "Don't worry. I'm going to get you out of here."

"I know." Luna replied confidently and calmly.

Draco swallowed hard as he racked his brain trying to come up with yet another spell to open the cell's door after the ones he'd tried didn't work.

"I'm starting to suspect that those heroic deeds you've made so far weren't about serving the greater good or even about power. You are trying to change the way this girl perceives you, am I right?" An acid mocking voice called from behind Draco, it was Lucius.

"Crucio!" Draco yelled, but the curse missed its target.

The polluted air - that was taking forever to clear - made difficult for Draco to see the exact position of his father. Nevertheless he regrouped himself, ready to strike and when he tried a second time after dodging the other's attack, he succeeded in bringing him down, but when he realized it was one of the Death Eaters assigned to protect the dungeons and not his father, it was too late for the young Slytherin to do anything else as he felt his wand slipping from his hand shortly before a stunning spell sent him flying onto the wall.

Without time to regret himself for that and oblivious to the aching sore on his back, Draco threw himself over his father, knocking him to the ground. Both men rolled on the floor as they continued fighting, but once Lucius positioned himself on top of the blond, he managed to restrain him. "Don't let your feelings for her cripple your common sense. Don't let her make you weak."

With a lighting fast move, Draco produced his pocket-knife and held it tight against his father's throat. "I'm _not_ weak!"

Lucius lifted himself from the floor in unison with his son who continued to press that dangerously sharp blade against his gut. "Yes, you are weak because you've been _cursed_. You might not have been aware the moment you chose to exchange your Lifespan Seal with that girl, who is _not_ your soul-mate: your own Dark Magic did it for you!"

"Those seals do not exist; they're nothing but a myth!" Draco accused, clenching his teeth.

"That's because the chances of meeting one's soul-mate are indeed scarce." Lucius then blew away the silk blocks from his son's face and focused on those amethyst blue gems in front of him. "That light in your eyes it's not yours but the Lifespan Seal you stole from her. As long as her presence in you is latent, her weakness will continue to clench from you and push you down: that's exactly what stopping you from becoming who you are meant to be. And you know that as your presence in her persists, it will continue to devour her whole until it finally succeeds to extinguish her essence to mere ashes because she doesn't love you back!"

A million colliding thoughts ignited behind his amethyst blue eyes. Draco caged his face with both hands and backed up. "Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!"

There was an outbreak of laughter in Lucius once he reached Luna's cell and opened it with a Dark Magic enchantment Draco was - surprisingly - unaware of.

"Son, you perfectly know I'm telling the truth and that's making you feel terribly enraged." Lucius grabbed Luna by her forearm and pulled the blindfold from her eyes. "Ask her! Look into her eyes and ask her if she truly loves you. If she does, I'll let her live."

Draco stopped a couple of steps away from her and looked up.

"Luna…do you…love me?" He asked numbly.

She opened her eyes slowly, her pearl grey eyes stared back at his amethyst blue gems a long moment, and then tears, big and full as diamonds, begin pouring silently down her cheeks. "I love you."

In order to become a Death Eater, Draco had to train both his mind and body and he knew exactly how to tune them with a perfect - almost inhuman - accuracy, but he knew that there was something that no-one would ever been able to control, and that was the center of the eyes. That's how he always could tell when someone was lying to him. He saw himself reflected in Luna's pupils and noticed a pronounced swelling on them.

Draco shook his head. "No, you don't." It was a whisper.

With the passing of the minutes the truth was slashing Draco's senses one by one. He'd never felt such excruciating agony, it took everything he had not to scream. It was almost as if the pain was drawn to Draco, as if he were sucking it inside, where it could mingle with his own unbearable hurt. The truth had destroyed him from the inside out. There were so many conflicts, so many painful things rushing through him.

Draco swallowed hard, his whole body was shaking. "That's why I'd always refused to look into your eyes whenever you told me that you loved me. Deep inside…I knew it was a lie."

Lucius looked at Draco and he could see that the blond had finally connected the dots.

"I pity you son, I really do, but don't be so hard on yourself." His cold, mocking tone caved deep inside Draco's ears. "Truth is always harsh to deal with, but what's worse is to deny the obvious and live in complete denial."

Draco's head pounded with the insanity of it all as he slowly backed up against the wall.

The venom of hatred flashed in Lucius' eyes. "The Lifespan Seals exchanged by two lovers who don't belong together can only be erased by mere will of the true soul-mate of a family member of one of those two people…and I happened to be the one of Violet Corvin, Luna's mother."

And that was when both Draco and Luna were assaulted by a blinding light and their eyes radiated an unholy amount of pain as a result. Screaming out in agony, both fell onto the floor, their hands covering their eyes, the sting was so powerful that it rendered both paralyzed.

Rejoicing himself with the view, Lucius approached Luna. "I'm going to kill you now that you fulfilled your purpose."

Draco tried to open his eyes but they were covered by a thick and sticky liquid: it was blood. He felt a burning sensation on his chest and immediately clenched from the medallion. Something was happening to the jewel as he felt it morphing its shape behind his t-shirt…whatever that medallion have done, it certainly worked for the bleeding stopped abruptly.

He brushed away the unwanted crimson moisture from his face and focused his blurred amethyst blue eyes on his father's face. "I won't let you do that."

Lucius turned to Draco, grabbed him by the shoulders and pinned his son against the bars. "You're in no condition to oppose my decision!"

Emotions had their price, one too high for they made the blond Slytherin loose control and he couldn't leave that happen to him again. Draco couldn't allow himself that, he had to see beyond his emotions…and that's exactly what he did.

His heart stopped, as in a flat line, exhibiting less emotion then than ever. "I'm not against the idea. I just want to kill her myself."

Lucius jaw turned into stone as he contemplated the blonde's resolution, he reluctantly let go of the grip. "Don't play with me, don't play. I want you to watch your lover's death; that would be worse than killing you."

Draco narrowed his blurry eyes; he wasn't going to keep himself silent for long for he knew the best replacement of silence was to speak with Malfoy's greatness…that meant speak cynically.

He then adopted a superficial smirk and patronizing tone. "Are you sure about that, _father_? It's confirmed, she doesn't love me! Besides, all I feel for her is a maddening _obsession, _you've said it yourself. I know _nothing_ about love…that's exactly what reminds me that I'm a Malfoy: someone emotionally crippled, incapable of loving, just like you. I want to kill her with my own hands and I won't let you take away from me that satisfaction. I certainly don't give a damn about what happens to me after that. You want to kill me? Go ahead, put and end to the life of the son who'd always been nothing but a failure to you."

That was definitely not a normal reaction to a life-threatening situation, Draco looked beyond crazy and yet strikingly charismatic.

Wanting to read through his son's hidden intentions, Lucius shot back. "You're not better than me; it's foolish to try to outwit me."

"You're right, I'm a total hypocrite: anything you can do, I can do it better." The young Slytherin replied with a bit of a hyper tone again, accusingly.

Lucius simply couldn't believe Draco's erratic demeanour in that situation anymore. It seemed that he was almost becoming as sick of Draco's attitude as Draco was of Lucius. Neither of them exhibited the slightest emotion but the truth was that both of them were exploding with it.

"Defiant to the end, uh? You're not afraid of death. You're like me. This isn't going to have a happy ending." Lucius smirked sadly, knowingly.

The blond shrugged. "I know, I like being tragic, I guess I've learned it from you."

Spinning around, Draco sent his right foot flying upward and connected it with his father's jaw. The force sent Lucius backwards a couple of feet stopping just to get his back crushed against the wall before falling onto the floor with an agonizing moan.

Draco then tried to summon his wand but it was useless. Was there a jinx present in the air that prevented him from getting it? He weighted that option inside his head when another realization struck him: he was not the righteous owner of the wand he'd been using all this time, his father was, and being close to Lucius' presence the wand would only reply to its original owner command. He was half-way to pick it up when he heard Luna calling for him.

"Draco…" Her legs felt numbed, nevertheless Luna tried to stand up and walk towards him.

Draco froze on his tracks and looked at the gory crimson plastered on Luna's face for a brief moment before turning sharp his head to the side. "What have I done to you?!"

She wiped her face clean with the sleeve of her blouse and gazed fondly at him thought her blood-shot eyes, smiling sadly. "My eyes, they don't hurt much."

"Every single one of my feelings, even my love for you, they are nothing but the sinful manifestation of the rotten cage that's my heart. I'm worse than a monster: I'm a _disease_." Draco finished, hardly able to breathe by then.

"Don't say that...it hurts…" Luna shook her head twice and hunched forward, covering her face between her hands before roaring angrily. "THOSE WORDS ARE TORTURING ME!!"

Startled, Draco's amethyst blue eyes widen in shock.

Stifling her sound and hollow sobs, Luna started rubbing her sore stomach with both hands, the moment she spoke again her voice was low and heavy, she didn't sound like her at all. "The words and feelings of my beloved are the air that fills me whole, the warmth that protects me, the strength that makes me grow, don't take them away from me."

Draco didn't blink, holding his breath.

Luna extended an arm for him to come closer. "I want to live, don't kill me…don't speak like that_ ever_ again. Can't you see that _I _love you?"

Draco found himself nodding without even realizing it or stopping to question the logic of anything, at least not right away, and walked towards her. In the same motion, Luna wrapped her arms behind Draco's neck, pulling him to her and kissed him hard on the mouth. Her desperately passionate and dangerously choking kiss burned Draco's lips like liquid fire. Immediately after that he felt a devastating power flowing through his veins and an electric wave that made every single hair in his body stand up as a strident reverberating sound of accelerated heartbeats resounded past his ears.

The Slytherin had no option but to break the kiss forcefully for he couldn't breathe. He then ducked his head and paid attention to the residual energy flow that was still circling through his body.

"This kind of energy…it feels like…" Draco looked up at Luna, dumbfounded.

Luna's eyes flashed with a strange eerie light. "Like the power of life itself."

Lucius facial features blended the sinister with the humorous as he lifted himself from the floor, balancing unsteady on his feet. "Say goodbye to your lover while you still can."

Without giving his father time to get to them, Draco rolled on the floor, diving for his wand. He then regrouped himself and disarmed his father but shortly after the blond turned to cast a spell to free Luna from her ties, Lucius threw himself over him. Each grabbed the other's throat, swinging their bodies in mid air before Lucius' back got smashed against a stone carved statue that turned the moment his back got pressed against it, revealing a hidden room behind. Without releasing the grip on the other, both Slytherins hit the ground soundly once they entered that secret place.

Lifting himself from above his father's barely-conscious and severely battened body, Draco looked up as the darkness cleared from the room and stepped further into that place towards a large water font made of stone. On center of the font was erected a beveled crystal glass structure, the drops of water that rolled down its surface refracted blindly the iridescence of the crystal.

"_Come to the water__, and find me there."_ An unearthly, torn and sad voice whispered past his ears.

A stab of pain slashed across Draco's heart the moment his sore eyes rested on the mutilated dead body that lied trapped inside the crystal glass coffin.

"Mother?!" He started chocking with sound and hollow sobs as bloody tears rolled down his cheeks.

llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

**A/N:**

_**WARNING!**_** To all those naïve readers…THIS AIN'T NO FAIRYTAIL!!! This fiction is rated "M" for Mature readers but from here on it'd surpass the ****R18 for implicit moral & sexual so-called deviations :evil smirk: **

**Now you understand what's happening to Luna? If you're still ****in the 9****th**** cloud, you'd crash to land in the next chapter when yet another truth is revealed…by no other than the most "dangerous mind" ever… **

Unless I've skipped it, there's no mention of the name of Luna's mother (if you happen to know it, drop me a line) so I've named her Violet Corvin following the pattern JKR had of naming the women as flowers and her surname was taken from a leading character from a movie…about vampires and lycans...does that ring any bell? No? Well…I'm no telling you jack…find it out for yourselves…hehehe….

**DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW – THANKS!**


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N:**

**At last the crudest truth is revealed…Draco would confront the most "dangerous mind" ever…**

_**!!**__**WARNING!!**_

**Implicit (or is it explicit? :smirks:) moral & sexual so-called deviations ahead. **

**Don't like? Swallow hard and read it anyway…it might "enlighten" your mind…****who knows? You might end up surprising yourself…**

///////////////**DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW – THANKS!**///////////////////////////////////////

**CHAPTER XXVIII**

"_Sucker love is heaven sent you pucker up, our passion's spent  
My heart's a tart, your body's rent, my body's broken, yours is bent  
Carve your name into my arm, instead of stressed, I lie here charmed  
'Cause there's nothing else to do, every me and every you._

_Sucker love, a box I choose, no other box I choose to use  
Another love I would abuse, no circumstances could excuse  
In the shape of things to come, too much poison come undone  
'Cause there's nothing else to do, every me and every you._

_Like the naked leads the blind, I know I'm selfish, I'm unkind  
Sucker love I always find, someone to bruise and leave behind  
All alone in space and time, there's nothing here but what here's mine  
Something borrowed, something blue, every me and every you."_

_(PLACEBO – "Every You Every Me")_

Inside that beveled crystal coffin erected in the middle of the stone built water font was the mortal remainings of his mother, Narcissa Black. Draco could barely recognize her body for the flesh presented an advanced state of decomposition and her limbs had been savagely mutilated following the _Manchalismos_ ritual.(*)

"Mother…"He gasped and tried to stifle his shock but he found his heart being pulsated with the anger and rage of those endless echoes of raw pain inside him.

Closing briefly his eyes, his mind brought him back to the moment when he performed the Necromancy Ritual:

"_The one who condemned her is the only person who knows the exact location of Narcissa Black's body. She's been left forgotten to endure the crudest pain and suffering for eternity; waiting for the arrival of a saviour who would spare her from that torture and redeem her soul.__"_

The blond spun his head to a side as he noticed a slight movement from Lucius, who was slowly pushing himself from the floor with both hands.

Draco waited for the man to stand in his two feet as his own face transfigured itself into a mask of wrath. "Despite the fact that you've always despised me, beat me countless times to the point of almost leaving me cripple, I knew you'd never dared to finish me off for I'm your sole heir. But mother, who loved me and was my only reason to live, you condemned her and her feelings because you consider them weaknesses and turned her into the lamb to the slaughter!"

The young Slytherin then swinged his right leg sideways in a circular motion, performing a 360 degree kick that once it stroke Lucius, the bestial force of the kick contorted his face grotesquely, sending a splash of blood along with a couple of teeth flying into the air. Before the limp body could even hit the ground, Draco picked Lucius up with yet another kick that sent his father flying onto the opposite direction, crushing his body soundly and painfully on the floor.

"_I'm Draco's blood-thirsty revenge."_ His sore eyes blazed red with the fury of the monster inside him.

"I'd never wanted to kill you and that's tragic." Lucius coughed blood as he brought himself to his feet, he stumbled forward a few paces before steadying himself against a column. "I guess you want to get even for what I've done to your mother though."

"To get even?!" Draco's breath was coming in ragged pants. "I would have to kill you!"

"Seems that you can't bring yourself to do it, can you?" Lucius asked. The slight fear that cracked his voice almost betrayed his confident words.

Draco frowned in what must have been the most nauseating expression of pity he could bring himself to make. "That doesn't mean you're going to live much longer either."

"There comes a time when men like us have to make the most crucial decision of all: kill our own flesh and blood. I've failed. Don't commit that same mistake." Lucius started coughing more violently, contorting his face with the stinging pain that threatened to overcome him completely to the point of blacking out.

But then Draco's pale lips started to curl into a cynic and most vengeful smirk. "There's a reason why you've rendered mother incapable of rising against you in her undead form. You wanted to stop her from avenging her death because you were terrified of the way she'd make you pay for what you've done to her through all these years. I'll set her soul free so _she_ can kill you! But before I do that, you're going to tell me where is Blaise Zabini."

When Lucius turned slowly to look at Draco, the light in his eyes faced and his face paled clammingly with accented confusion.

Draco spitted right at his father's incredulous face when he spoke accusingly. "You've kidnapped him along with those people back in the cemetery field. Where is Blaise, what did you do to him?!"

Lucius shook his head in disbelief. "I didn't do anything to such boy: I don't even know who he is."

Draco fixed his blood-shot eyes on Lucius pupils and in how they remained constant, they didn't swell the slightest: he was telling the truth.

"You useless fucker…" Remotely pleased with the answer, the blond reluctantly dropped the grip on the other's throat shortly after the man passed out. _"Doesn't matter, I'll find my brother myself."_

Draco walked towards the font, stopped right in front of the crystal coffin and held up his wand. He flicked it once, the silhouette of a pentagram erupted from the wand and lifted incorporeally above his head before crashing onto the floor, melting the cold stone under his feet as it finished tracing its figure, placing the blond Slytherin just in the middle of the five pointed star.

He then strengthened his posture and lifted his head up before closing shut his eyes. He inhaled deeply and exhaled soundly, following a rhythmic and meticulously controlled breathing. With each breath he took, his concentration grew deeper, immersing him completely in a state of trance as the darkness around him slowly took shape and form, turning into a black fluid that started to move inward in a spiral vortex formed in front of him.

As the words started to escape Draco's lips in faint whispers, he opened his amethyst blue eyes. A low rumbling sound began to fill the room and continued to grow louder as his voice gain volume and resonance. "By the gracious permission of the infinite and Supreme Forces, increase and strengthen the hidden and occult virtues of this Pentacle so that I may be enabled with it to perform those magical evocations for which purpose I now perform this mystic rite, hear my petition, allow my voice reach through the veil between the world of the living and the underworld!"

A violent flash of light threw Draco's head back, leaving him temporarily overwhelmed by the feeling of his body being stripped with an invasive luminance sensation which was at the same time preventing the black fluid of the vortex from taking over him.

Despite the odd feeling of nakedness, he relaxed every single muscle in his body before calling out. "I, Draco Malfoy, summon thee, Narcissa Black, who dwells in the invisible to attend upon the ceremony I performed through this mystic rite so that in it you may find a permanent equilibrium with which you will rule and direct the natural elements that were taken from you in order to avenge your death!"

The water of the font dried completely as the stone-built fountain cracked in half, releasing its hold of the crystal coffin which positioned itself in mid-air in front of the blond Slytherin eyes. The moment the coffin opened its lid, an electric energic wind escaped from inside.

Draco slowly pointed his wand at the decayed and mutilated remains of Narcissa's body and broke the silence once more. "Oh most gracious Supreme Forces allow the virtues of the natural elements to consecrate, protect and strength this broken body so that Narcissa Black's soul might achieve permanent hold of the after-life bliss!"

That was when an iridescent sparkling light wrapped her destroyed bones and torn flesh inside a weightless, soft and warm luminescent cocoon.

An ethereal, almost angelical voice spoke for the first time. "I've been waiting for you, my dearest son."

"Mother..." Draco could only stare at her, overwhelmed.

Narcissa looked just like Draco remembered her, but there was even more brightness in her beautiful face and tender smile. He was lost in her hypnotic and tender blue eyes. He immediately wanted to reach to her and touch her face, but he knew that the moment he did it, the incantation would cease. However Narcissa was able to touch her son if she so desired for she'd achieved corporeal balance of her essence. Shortly afterwards the feeling of reality settled in and Draco repaired on other parts of his mother's body beside her face, he swallowed imperceptibly and closed shut his eyes, looking supremely embarrassed.

Narcissa smiled broadly at Draco's uneasiness. "You've grown up so much in so little time, but you're still the same innocent child I'd always be proud of."

She then brushed over her perfect milk-white bare skin some of her incredible long silk blond curls - conditioning them to serve as ethereal clothing, hiding the treasures of those gorgeous curves that framed her slender naked body - and looked up at her son.

When his glassy and sore amethyst blue eyes looked her the second time, Draco couldn't contain his voice from shaking. "I wasn't able to protect you when you needed me the most. I didn't keep my promise, I couldn't save you."

The anguish in his tone got through to her. "If what you're saying is true then I wouldn't be here with you now. Draco, son, now that my soul is free, it's time for me to fulfil the one promise I made when you were just a baby: to watch over you, always."

Her compassionate and grateful blue gems stared right back at Draco and that comforted him. "Mother, the pain of losing you, it hurt…so _much_. Many times I'd asked myself what was the purpose of living with you gone. Even today I still feel half alive without you by my side."

"The day you were born I told myself that I'd be strong for both of us. I gave you everything my heart held inside as I watched you grow with the hope you'd never shut out your feelings. My dear son, I've missed you with the same aching force you've missed me. If you felt half alive without me was because our hearts always had beaten in unison." Narcissa leaned closer and stroked her hand lightly over one of Draco's cheeks; that warm and soothing sensation made him close his eyes briefly. "Life is a gift, treasure it, you've got a lot to live for: your wife and child need you."

As his eyelids fluttered open, tears choked up his throat. "A child?!"

Despite the unquestionable trust in his mother, Draco found himself refusing categorically such news. He'd never failed before when casting a spell. The probability of failing to do so when preventing Luna from getting pregnant was non-existent. Not even that remote one-in-a-million chance was even admitted inside the blonde's exasperated course of thinking.

There was a subtle smile on Narcissa's lips. "Luna conceived your baby under the constellation which heart holds the brightest red star."

"Antares, the brightest red star, is situated at the heart of the Constellation of the Scorpion." Draco replied out loud without even realizing for his head was spinning at the speed of light.

His heart missed a beat as he went back in time and made a mental projection of the date: it coincided exactly with the night he saved Luna's life and performed the Inferae's pact on her at St. Mungo's. The moment he'd achieved complete access of her mind and body in order to transfer the powers of the Ghoul, it'd left completely without effect every existent contraceptive spell…how could he'd skipped such major fact?

Once the idea of Luna's confirmed pregnancy hit Draco like a billion tons over his skull - threatening to eradicate for good what was left of his questioned sanity and forcing him to jump literally into a massive and suicidal panic attack - he froze, remembering something that Snape have said to him. "Mother, what does _Akasha's Imbolc_ mean exactly?"

As Narcissa placed herself in front of Draco, her blue eyes sparkled with a silvery light before replying. "Those ancient magic words describe the ability that is present in a reduced number of wizards to perceive the sensations and feelings inflicted by their unborn children into their mother's bodies. This way the father can experience in the flesh what his baby is doing inside the womb of his wife and exchange subconsciously part of his most treasured feelings, such as affection and protection, directly into his child. _Akasha_ stands for _fifth element_ and _Imbolc_ literally means _in the belly_…of the mother."

Draco felt his mind splitting in uncountable and irrecoverable pieces. He'd been fatally wrong from the start: the reverberated voice, the resounding of heart-beats, the dizziness, the headaches, the excruciating pain and agony…all those terrible and maddening sensations he thought Luna was throwing at him each time they _connected_ were not because she was punishing him for what he'd done in order to save her life…they were the ill and sick doings of his unborn child towards Luna.

He took a few deep breaths to steady himself for he felt like his knees couldn't even manage to support the feather-like weight of his diminishing body, he literally felt like dying. "That child…_my_ child…is hurting the woman I love!?"

"Yes." A silvery tear rolled down one of Narcissa's milk-white cheeks.

Draco's breathing started to hum in erratic sobs. "Why would a baby do that to his own mother?!"

She rested a hand over her son's heart. Noticing how agitated it was, she looked at Draco and whispered to him in a calm smoothing voice as if wanting him to follow her soft breathing to calm him down. "The body has its own language and its own wisdom recollected by the experience of the father and of the mother. When a baby is nurtured by a womb in which the love for him was held on trial from the very beginning and the only positive incentive that receives is when the father provides his support and protection through his _Akasha's Imbolc _ability, the baby's capability to develop feelings remains then undivided and centered in one person only: the father."

"That's why Luna was so afraid of. I told her that I never wanted to have children and when she found that she was pregnant, she panicked. I just wanted to protect her, but I scared her and now she's suffering because of that. This is entirely _my_ fault, not hers!" Draco clenched from his heart, it felt as if it was being dissected and spread wide open by the invisible needles of his guilt.

Narcissa brushed a curl over her face and looked down, avoiding making eye contact with his son, hiding the sadness of her eyes from noticing. "You should be proud of having the complete ownership of such devoted heart. The unconditional love of a child towards his father is a priceless treasure."

"Such exclusiveness can't be good." Draco forced his sore eyes to remain opened, even despite a burning sensation that assaulted him momentarily. "A lot of people will come along in the course of my child's life to counterbalance this: colleagues, friends, confidents, lovers… eventually a life partner to raise a family with and enjoy a life full of experiences."

She shook her head slightly, as if wanting Draco to stop pursuing such idealistic course of action. "Your heir will grow up to be an extremely intelligent and powerful wizard, yes, but the possibilities of finding happiness away from your side would be scarce. That will be mainly due to the fact that your child would either refuse to open his heart to others or because no-one would ever stand a chance to outbeat the feelings only you are capable of arousing in his heart."

"If my child does take after me then he'll fight against all odds to procure himself everything to be completely and truly happy!" He sentenced firmly.

"Unfortunately, you're the only one with feelings and magic powerful enough to provide such unique child the adequate protection against any harm and the required support. It's obvious then why the only place your heir would ever feel loved, contained and safe is with you. You're unable to betray, lie, scorn or hurt your own flesh and blood, that's why." She acknowledged immediately.

Draco felt a splitting deadening headache by then. "But why people would want to hurt my child?!"

Narcissa smiled bitterly. "Because the abilities, magic and psyche of your heir would be far superior to the likes of the rest: that would arouse jealousy, suspicion and hatred of everybody around."

"I won't let anyone hurt the ones I love. I'll protect my family with my life and procure them to have everything they need to secure their happiness, always." He said quietly yet his voice was dripping with self-restrained anger.

She came closer and tilted her head to the side of his right cheek; her silk blond curls caressed softly Draco's skin like feathers. "Your son also wants you to have it all and he most certainly had procured it already. He was the one who gave you that Swastika charm."

The blond reached above his t-shirt and found the medallion he had around his neck. "My _son_…he gave me this?"

"Yes, your son made it to protect you and your loving ones. This charm is also preserving the Lifespan Seal you took from Luna: the one that's delaying your own darkness from rising." Narcissa nodded, a nostalgic tone tainted slowly in her ethereal voice.

Draco pulled the medallion out from his shirt, noticing for the first time a buzzing energy coming from it. He felt it'd morphed under his shirt the moment Lucius broke the curse between him and Luna, that's why the bleeding in his eyes stopped. "_Delaying _it…this means the seal will eventually vanish and my dark side would break free."

"When that day comes, you'd not only earn a new strength but also summon a sinister power. Wherever you will go, there will be nothing but darkness." Her voice was a painful hiss.

Draco suddenly clutched at his chest, his heart was racing. "My son had protected me, even from myself. He'd watched over me all this time."

The Slytherin could barely breathe this time as he struggled to recall the conversation he had once with that certain striking blond small boy, feeling the words echoing at him inside his skull:

"_I was born when he was very young and despite what the majority of the people would say, this helped us a lot to bring us together. I'm proud to be my father's son."_

"_My father would never dare to lay a finger on me. He loves me more than anything in this world."_

"_Sorry about that, can't blame her for inheriting such weak genes, not many have been blessed like I was."_

"Scorpius..." Draco dropped his hand stiffly to his side and whispered. "He didn't know Liam and I were the same person, not until he touched me, and when he did, his face…it _glowed_."

Narcissa's velvety pale lips curled softly. "That's because you're everything to him, literally."

But as more words and images came crashing inside Draco, they immediately left him with a blank, lost expression:

"_The words and feelings of my beloved are the air that fills me whole, the warmth that protects me, the strength that makes me grow, don't take them away from me."_

"_Don't push me away and look into my eyes. I want what's best for you, can't you see that?"_

"_There's nothing I wouldn't do for my beloved. Give yourself to me."_

"_Take me to you; imprison me, for I never shall be free, nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.__"_

Draco felt sick, deadly sick inside. Nausea so powerful he literally had to put one hand over his lips surged into his mouth. A deafening vibration started to shook the floor around him as a crisp, sharp noise creep from the walls of the room, threatening to bring down the ceiling.

Narcissa looked around at the fractured walls, aware that the outbreak in Draco's psyche unleashed the terrifying strength of his own magic. "You are not to blame for that because you've met Scorpius' unstable and unlimited powerful unborn form: the one that's hurting your wife and is fixated in your person…but you've also met his fully-grown, stable and channeled human form: the boy who gave you that charm so that you can secure your happiness and the one of those around you. They might seem two completely different beings but what's important is that the energy in Scorpius is pure. He's a caring child and that's because you raised and taught him how, that's why you can't leave his side. Without you Scorpius' energy and magic is prone to lack of control and unleash chaos."

A painful moan warned mother and son that their conversation was no longer private: Lucius was slowly coming back to his senses.

Narcissa's silvery blue eyes darkened when he rested her gaze on her husband. "Time is running out for me and for you as well but before I go, there's something I have to do."

Draco nodded and didn't move an inch from the spot he'd been standing ever inside he conjured the rite. "I can hold it, don't worry about me."

The fact that Draco didn't repair on the echoes of the desperate and terrified screams of his father filling the room and resounding on the walls confirmed that his attention was deposited in concentrating harder to maintain the balance of the incantation, or so it seemed, because a shameful tear crawled down his cheek in spite of himself.

Once Narcissa returned to Draco's side, she stretched both arms around him and hugged him tight. "Son, there's something else you need to know about Luna's Lifespan Seal. It's true that you need it to stop the darkness from rising, but at the same time it's preventing your soul-mate from giving the strength you're so desperately seeking. If your soul-mate happens to find you, you won't need Luna's Lifespan Seal anymore because you'll be sustained by your soul-mate's Light."

"But I love Luna." Draco's voice was trimmed with angst and despair.

"I see you're confused, don't be." She leaned forward, caressing his cheeks with her soft and warm breath. "A soul-mate is not just a mere object of infatuation or a romantic lover like most people believe; it's much more than that. A soul-mate is the twin flame with whom we have a strong spiritual and magical connection with and trust, loyalty and commitment are mutual."

Narcissa adverted then that the black fluid of the vortex was slowly devouring the luminescence wrapped around her son's body, making its way towards Draco. "We've got no time left."

"No! Please stay with me a little longer. I'd never be able to see you again." The Slytherin broke into deep sobs, as bloody tears ran down his cheeks, cursing himself silently. _"Damnit!"_

She rested a pale and smooth hand over Draco's heart and looked up, smiling one last time at him. "I promise I'd be there with you, strengthening it."

"I love you mother. Don't forget that. _Never_ forget that..." His voice was trimmed with a painful knot chocking up his throat.

The urge to lean forward the few inches that separated him from hers was undeniable, but Draco knew that the Pentagram's protection was indeed fading.

"And I love you too, my precious son." She whispered softly, placing both her hands against her bosom.

Raising his wand towards the ceiling, Draco called out. "Oh mighty and infinite Supreme Forces, in the hope you will concede my request now that the blessing and consecrating of the elements has been fulfilled, allow Narcissa Black's purified body and redeemed soul aspire to the Light!"

"Now I'm at peace. Thank you." Narcissa's musical voice whispered.

Silvery spiral waves concentrated around her pale figure and sparkled with the rainbow colour spectre before vanishing into countless of star-shaped flakes that raised high onto the ceiling before disappearing in the air.

"_This is goodbye mother. At least one of us could reach salvation, you deserved it, not me… I can't be saved." _Draco said to himself brushing one hand over his heart before curling it into a tight fist.

lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

The young Slytherin stepped outside the hidden room and then pulled the statue back to its place, sealing the place forever.

"Draco." Luna murmured as she wrapped her arms around herself, shaking and refusing to look straight into his eyes.

He lifted his head slowly, his foggy amethyst blue eyes reflected exhaustion and despair.

"You've heard the conversation between my mother and I." It wasn't a question, Draco knew what was coming.

Luna said nothing at first. She tried to pretend she hadn't overheard, but her watery eyes betrayed her. "I wish I hadn't."

Draco stretched both arms towards Luna for her to come closer. "I promise I would make things right this time, but I need you and our son by my side. I can't live without you: I love you both."

But she recoiled and looked at him with a paper-white scared face. "The baby hates me because he knows I'm terrified of him."

Draco rushed to Luna and wrapped her tight in his loving, protective arms and rested her head against his chest as he caressed tenderly her dirty blond curls with one hand, soothing her. "Your happiness is my only purpose in life and I'm willing to do the unthinkable to make up for my mistakes."

Cupping her chin with one hand, Draco lifted her face to meet his and that's when he repaired on the colour of her eyes as two glassy amethyst blue gems stared back at him. "Luna, your eyes…"

Luna remained still for a long moment before speaking. "The _curse_ in me, it's gone."

Draco noticed the stress she placed in that one word. What in the past had meant an unbreakable bond meant to bring them together developed into a…curse.

She was still shaking with turbulent mixed emotions when she broke forcibly the embrace and took a couple of steps away from him, brushing both hands over her stomach. "I didn't want to believe it at first. I tried to forget what happened in the cemetery underground alley. Now I understand everything: I wasn't myself, I was just his puppet and you were his victim! This can't be my _baby_, this is an abomination!"

Draco's heart stop beating altogether as the angst fasten its wiring around it squeezing the last drop of his diminished strength, rendering him into an irrecoverable state of shock and despair.

He watched Luna turn her head, walking slowly away from him and Draco couldn't even push his body into motion to stop her, he felt…he just panicked. "What can I do to make you stay?! I'll do anything, _anything_!"

Drying the tears from her eyes with one hand, Luna turned round and looked at him one last time. "All this pain proves only one thing: we were never meant to be together. The more we deny it, the more we'd suffer. Draco, my feelings for you are strong, yes, but we both know that I don't love you."

Draco clenched one hand over his chest and threw his back against the wall, sliding slowly onto the floor before placing his head between his knees, stifling his sound ragged sobs.

"_Were you that desperate to mean something to someone that the end justified the means?" _Lucius mocking voice past by his ears, haunting him.

"_Yes..." _He said to himself, cracking his knuckles against his knees.

Shortly after that, everything around Draco started to appear in-and-out of focus in front of his eyes and the killing headache regained intensity. A rumbling and distorted sound coming from under the floor alerted the blond that the foundations of the dungeons were giving up for good and the reason of all that was because…Draco was pissed to high Hell.

With a loud crack Draco apparated at the last step of the stairs that lead towards the only safe exit from the Mason, scarce feet from where Luna was standing.

He crossed his arms over his lean chest, seizing her from head to toe. "This ain't over, _sweetheart_."

Looking defiantly, Luna took her wand from behind her ear and pointed straight at him. "Everything that pulled us together is gone, the curses, the bindings spells…all has been destroyed by Lucius!"

"WHAT ABOUT OUR SON?!" Draco yelled, his left eye started twitching. "I might not be the kind of man a woman your sort deserves but that's _exactly _what encourages me to fight against all odds in order to make you mine!"

Effortlessly and in one consecutive motion, Draco disarmed and seized Luna from behind.

"Whether you like it or not, you're my wife and the mother of my child. I don't care if you'd never match my feelings for you. I'd fill the void between us by showing you every single day of my life what I'm capable of doing in order to brand your heart with mine. Now, regarding the _ill_ doings of our _precious_ baby, his father will teach him how to behave and worship his mother from this day on." He hissed on her ear with a tense voice as he rubbed her stomach with one hand.

Draco grabbed Luna gently but firmly by her shoulders and spun her to face him, locking his sore and enraged amethyst blue eyes of his into her gems.

Leaning closer, Draco pressed the tip of his nose against hers and spoke softly. "Show yourself to me."

He felt Luna's fingers closing firmly the back of his neck as her body slammed against his like a magnet. The moment Draco turned to look at Luna a second time, there was an eerie light on her eyes.

Draco smirked coldly and focused on her pupils. "Do you love me?"

"Yes." That perfect smoothing amethyst blue ocean of hers shined like never before, and her round pupils remained static after such confession.

"_I wish those were Luna's words, but they're not and that's because you're not her." _Fighting a burning angsty knot crawling up his throat, Draco said. "I love you too. You know that, don't you?"

"Yes, but I don't need to read your eyes to know that." Luna grabbed his hand and placed it over her stomach before returning the stare. "Your love is the one and only power source that's sustaining my life."

A shadow of a smile curled Draco's pale lips. He couldn't remove his eyes from her belly as he kept caressing it softly with his open palm.

Leaning closer, she pressed the tip of her nose against his and purred. "I want my beloved to kiss me deeply."

Draco took a step back and shook his head, sighing soundly. _"You're in this unlimitless powerful unborn form but you're my son and I'm your father. We might never have a typical father-and-son conversation because we're not regular people, we're Malfoys__."_

The blond Slytherin twisted his head around until his neck popped and smirked tightly. "Your _love_ for me is just the clothing for the naked fact of _desire_. Don't confuse love with desire: desire is physical, love is spiritual. When desire blooms, bodies meet in sex but when love blooms, souls meet in bliss. The flesh and the bones consume and decay, limiting the concept of desire and the act of sex within the boundaries of the flesh, but the soul is eternal, that's why love is ever-lasting, it has no limits. Now that you know the difference and you know that I _love_ you, what do you want to do?"

She bit her lip, thinking carefully her next words. "I want to be able to express what my beloved makes me feel for him."

Grabbing her hands in his, Draco squeezed them tight before looking back at her. "Then do it, but dare to go beyond, dare to touch my _soul_ instead of my _flesh_. I want what you feel for me to overcome the limits imposed by the body. If you manage to do that, then it'll mean that you're strong and you indeed _love _me but if you can't, then the only thing you'll prove me is that you've let yourself sink in confusion because you're weak…and Malfoys are _not _weak!"

With a worried and confused frown, she replied. "But I love _and_ desire my beloved. I want him to desire me as well. I won't accept to receive less than what you give to this body of hers."

Draco's jaw locked. "Do you really want me to treat you like a mere copy of hers or like the unique being you are? You were created with part of me and part of your mother, of course I'd never love anyone the way I'd love you. You haven't got a body of your own yet because you're growing inside your mother and that is what's confusing you."

She slowly took Draco's head in her hands, brought it together with hers and released a soft breath against his lips. "She is also part of you for she has your blood. I don't see why you're making differences between her and me. I want everything you give to her…and more."

He blew a stressful sigh and stretched his back. This was going to require a methodic patience…a quality which Draco unfortunately found difficult to maintain for long when he was beyond pissed. "You want _more_? Then you're looking for _power_ or _ego_…probably both but certainly not _love_. The ego is always asking for power, but love is not a function of ego! So what you feel for me is not love, because it's just part of your search for power, bound to create confusion in you. That's why you can't understand the very thing you think you have understood the most, that's why you're confused with your feelings towards me!"

With a light-speed movement, she grabbed his head in her hands again but this time she kissed Draco hard on the mouth, closing her eyes. "Words in themselves have no meaning, only experiences have meaning."

Pulling away - with as much self-controlled anger as he could master - Draco combed back with one hand his silk blond hair, shooting a piercing look at her. "The mind is a very contradictory thing for it works in polar opposites. But that's why we can always rely on our logic. You're asking yourself why? Well, it's because our _logic_ always chooses one part and denies the other. Use your logic, choose psyche over body. If you're so eager to prove me your power then, your psyche is the only one that contains such never-ending energy, the body only restrains it!"

Placing her little finger against his closed shut lips, she smiled at his pissed-off expression. She then looked intently into his sore eyes and curled his little finger in hers. "Can't you see that you already belong to me? Don't tell me you've forgot the promise you've made to me. You told me that I could ravish you anytime, anywhere, anyhow because you're all mine, always will."

Without giving him time to process those words – or breathing for that matter - she tackled Draco to the ground, hugging him tight in a death grip. The force she used was such that Draco hit his head sideways with the edge of the stairs rest, leaving him momentarily dizzy and with a rebuilding drumming on his ever-lasting headache.

Once Draco's eyes fluttered open he found Luna on top of him, nibbling on his neck, moaning softly. He felt that one of her hands was clenching from the collar of his t-shirt while her other hand was eagerly seizing for gold under his pants. His body tensed when she found her final destination and started massaging its length slowly. Draco was beginning to respond in spite of his emotions and he hated every second of it, he didn't want to react like that, not again.

Draco felt the room spinning, he was breathing rapidly and raggedly through his open mouth. "The further you access my body, the more we'd drift apart. If you're looking to get close to me, you've chosen the wrong way to approach me."

In reply Draco received a vicious slap on a cheek that made him spun abruptly his head to the side, making him feel suddenly nauseous. "Hush, my beloved."

His headache had become a full blown by then, felt like he was about to black-out from the pain. Draco tried to push her away as his body jerked slightly under her. But she was incredible strong and dangerously determined. She restrained Draco grabbing him by his throat as she continued massaging his manhood with her free hand. As she got carried away, she started to get rougher, pushing him to the dangerous edge. Draco tried to draw a breath, but his throat closed with the effort, he was slowly chocking, gasping desperately for air.

Draco threw on the table his last card: reverse psychology. It hurt like hell the moment he tried to bring himself to speak. "If what you're looking for is to treat me like your prey instead of your father…if you choose to act like an instinct-driven animal craving for fresh meat instead of conducting yourself like a rational developing human-being looking for acceptance and support, then go ahead and stuff yourself with my body until you indigest and choke up with your ego! Once your desire dies, toss out what's left of me for the vultures and worms to finish me off!"

She gasped and opened her amethyst blue eyes wide before they started filling themselves with tears. "My beloved is angry at me, why?"

Pulling her hand out from his pants and throat, she hugged Draco tight, shrugging. "I don't want my beloved to be angry at me because he's everything to me and I can't live without him. All I want is to make him happy!"

Draco's voice sounded completely broken yet strangely calm. "If you consider my feelings and you don't want to hurt me this means you're able to control your _desire_ for me and you're learning to _love_ me. Now that you know that the meeting of two bodies can never achieve permanent union and that both of us count with enough energy in our hearts to make our feelings transcend and last forever…would you choose me for who I am, your father, and not your beloved partner?"

"Why are you crying?" Caressing his bruised and swollen cheek with the back of her palm, she hissed. "That makes _me _angry but also sad. I don't want you to cry. I don't want to feel sad. Don't cry."

Draco massaged his violated throat with one hand and looked up. "Can you promise me two things then?"

She frowned slightly, as if considering carefully her words before replying. "How can commitment be promised aforehead? Before I could grant you my word, I need to hear about it first."

Cupping her hands in his, Draco pressed them against his own heart. "Stop hurting your mother, don't cause her more pain to her body that you've already have, she loves you too."

She shook her head twice, visible burdened. "No! She does _not _love me and she does _not_ love you either!" She then sucked a sound, deep breath and added. "As long as I'm still growing inside her I can't afford to hurt it. Much. So I'd do as you say."

Draco closed shut his sore eyes for a brief moment and pushed down a tight knot from his throat, his voice sounded raspy and shaky. "Next time the two of us meet I want it to be outside your mother's body, once you're born and have a body of your own. A body that would allow you to be yourself - an unique an unrepeatable precious person – with which what you see, touch, smell and taste would be experienced by yourself with your own senses and through your own body. I can't wait to look into your own eyes, brush my fingers in your own hair and witness your own smile. I can't wait to hear your own voice calling me _father_, I can't wait…" But his voice died completely, he swallowed painfully.

"I can't wait either…" Her cheeks went burning red. "I want to be with you. NOW!!"

Draco realized he was holding his breath. He tried to release the air out slowly, remembering the relaxing techniques he'd learnt from Slughorn's sessions, but he was starting to choke with his piling angst.

She cupped his chin with one hand and hissed against his lips. "Not being able to see you or _touch_ you…that's a tremendous sacrifice you're asking me."

Draco squeezed his eyes shut to prevent more tears from falling. He was losing control of the situation, literally balancing on the edge of the abyss.

"Stop crying and look at me!" Startled, Draco did as requested and leveled his foggy blue amethyst eyes to meet hers. "If do what you ask, would that be proof enough that I'm strong and worthy enough to be a Malfoy?"

Smirking tightly, Draco nodded silently.

Ducking her head down, staring at her belly, she asked. "How long would I have to wait in order to see you again?" The tone in her voice denoted a marked impatience.

Pressing softly one open hand against her stomach, Draco hissed softly. "It takes nine whole months for a baby to grow inside his mother's womb."

Grabbing his hand in hers she leaned closer until both were nose-to-nose. "I've already spent fifty-nine days inside this loveless vessel and it's _torture_." Tears started to form on the corner of her amethyst-blue eyes, her voice trimmed slightly. "But I'd endure the pain because I love you and I want to see you again." She finished with an anguish tone.

Wrapping his arms around her, Draco kissed the top of her head. "I love you too, with all my heart. I'd protect and watch over you, always. I'd count the days until you're born." As if releasing a heavy burden from his lungs, Draco breathed soundly. "_I'd be here waiting for you,_ _son."_

The light in her eyes darkened a bit. "Son?" She asked and pulled away in shock, her face was white as snow. "This means that once I have a body of my own it would look like yours and not like hers?"

Draco swallowed hard, did he just said those words out loud? No, he didn't…did he? Either way, that reaction had indeed worried him as he continued to look at her trailing her fingers past her curves.

"Yes, your body would be the one of a man, like mine." He then smirked sadly and coughed to clear his voice. "Hopefully, not_ like _mine, you'd definitely be stronger and handsomer."

"You're perfect." What followed certainly mesmerized Draco for he never recalled Luna's face had ever smiled so brightly. "I've seen your naked body and hers as well: I prefer yours."

Draco's heart skipped a beat, his face went clammingly white and his controlled composure threatened to crack entirely. He feared what she probably might have implied by saying that.

As if she'd read his confusion _and_ mind, she grinned mischievously. "It's just that I want to _be_ like you and after you told me that I'd also _look _like you, this means I'd be remotely like her. So the less I have of hers in me and the more I take after you would make me feel better with myself. That would bring us closer: just the two of us!"

Draco didn't blink, evaluating if that was the answer he wanted to hear. His mind was a wreck of distorted thoughts and his sanity was miles away from his reach at that particular moment. He felt his lungs release the air altogether when her arms wrapped around his waist like a tourniquet. Welcoming the embrace, he kissed her forehead.

Luna's eyes fluttered open, and the moment she repaired on her surrounding, she looked utterly lost and confused. "Draco?! You…you're all bruised and bleeding…oh my! What…happened?"

He coughed, contorting his face painfully as he did so and rubbed his watery eyes with two fingers of one hand, shaking his head slowly from side to side unable to bring himself to speak.

Luna grabbed him by his t-shirt and started mumbling. "There was this bright light and…then there was blood in my eyes…but we kissed and I felt completely safe again with you by my side…you rescued me from Lucius…and then…I can't remember…what happened next."

"_I owe you one, Scorpius."_ Draco's lips curled into a mischievous smirk. "We're in the same boat here, but in my case I don't remember _kissing_ you. How about if you refresh my memory a little bit?" He teased, leaning closer but she pulled slightly away and that made Draco's heart missed a beat.

"Draco, when I told you that I loved you I really wanted to believe that but now I know it's nothing in comparison with what you feel about me, I wish I could..." Luna started sobbing soundly, chocking with her own tears.

"STOP! Just stop…" He took a big breath, trying to calm himself and find his voice back before cupping her chin with one hand, lifting her face to face his. "_S__top _pushing me away and _talk _to me. Tell me what's happening to you. I have the right to know."

Luna nodded, her fingers trailed down his cheeks, caressing him softly, tenderly. "You've saved me and granted me a second chance to treasure life, now it's time for both us to save each other and treasure what you and I made together." She dropped her hand to the side and gulped nervously before continuing.

Without having to hear the rest of it, Draco was already lost in bliss after hearing those touching words coming from her mouth.

"I'm pregnant." She hissed and squeezed her eyes shut, shrugging herself.

Just like when seizing a once-in-a-life-time opportunity, he jumped right into action without waiting another second. Draco wrapped both arms around Luna's waist and pulled her closer until both bodies were hermetically pressed against the other, not a single trace of air between them. When Luna gasped for air Draco made his move and melted hungrily his lips with hers. As he deepened the kiss, his tongue desperately seeking for entrance, he forced its way inside her mouth as he continued devouring her with an almost diabolical consuming passion.

"This means…this means that you're happy with the news, _really_?" Luna asked once their lips parted for much needed air, she looked shocked with Draco's reaction and was already light-headed.

With his arms chained tight around her, Draco looked deeply into her amethyst blue eyes. "Of course I'm happy! The woman I love is carrying my child!"

Draco slipped his hand inside the collar of her shirt and undid the knot of the cord that held their wedding rings around Luna's neck. "I love you and I love our baby. There's _nothing_ I wouldn't do for my family."

Kneeling in one leg, Draco took her hand in his. His heart was literally in his throat by then, he'd never been more anxious in his life. "Here and now I renew the promise I'd made to you to stand by your side, protect and watch over you always. Luna, you're my life, my everything...I can't live without you, marry me again."

Luna found herself out of words. She went clammingly pale and seeing her like that was the last thing Draco would have ever expected coming from Luna after confessing her pregnancy. The Slytherin felt his blood literally freezing in synchronicity with her out-of-the-blue reaction.

Her chin started to quiver and tears filled immediately her amethyst blue eyes. "I can't…I'm sorry."

Draco clamped his teeth, mastering as much inhuman self-control as possible not to scream, refraining himself from doing something completely irrational too.

Luna took a deep breath and looked at Draco with pleading watery eyes. "If we stay together, we'd keep hurting each other."

Dropping his head, Draco closed his sore amethyst blue eyes shut for a brief moment, stifling the uncomfortable squeezing pressure located on the center of his chest. His whole body then broke into a cold sweat as he started to experience difficulty trying to breathe. "What does it take to be the man you need?"

She sniffed and swiped the sleeve of her blouse under her nose. "You once told me that you couldn't change the way you were, I accepted that back then and now I understand that if you were to change, then you won't be yourself at all, and I don't want that. If I stay with you, I'd have to change who I am, and that would end up destroying me."

Dragging his blood-shot eyes from the floor - still in his kneeling position - Draco squeezed Luna's hand in his and tried to bring himself to talk, but his mouth felt extremely dry.

"Don't do this…" His voice came with a broken anguish tone, but then, for the first time in his life, Draco swallowed his pride. "Don't do this…for me, do this for our baby. Every child has the right to grow with a mother and a father. I won't let our differences take that away from him. I want both of us to be together and raise this family, we owe this child that much."

"I do want this baby to be happy…" Luna start saying but stopped then she felt that Draco had already slipped the ring back on her finger and cupped her hand in his, forcing her to push the ring back on his finger as well.

Draco grabbed Luna's hand in his, fingers entwined, and kissed both his and her wedding rings.

"This is till death do us part." He sentenced with a toneless voice and got up from the floor.

The Slytherin then curled one of her dirty blond blocks behind her ear and whispered. "Luna Malfoy, understand this once and for all: your place is by my side."

Luna closed her shut eyes with fear as she felt the warmth of Draco's tongue licking the tears from her moisten cheeks and his eager fingertips travelling down the sides of her neck.

"Sweetheart, why the drama? Look at it this way: once the condemnation of living by my side is over you'd spend a blissful eternity without me." He said with a resentful tone on his cracked voice.

The moment Luna looked up she saw that Draco's amethyst blue eyes darkened completely.

"I'm the one who's going to Hell, not you." Tracing his ring finger over her lips, Draco snaked his other arm around her waist and slammed her body against him. "You look tired. You should rest."

With exhaustion pressing her down, Luna nuzzled her head against his shoulder before passing out. Draco then wrapped both arms around her body and lifted Luna up, carrying her bridal-style.

While heading towards the entrance of the tunnel that lead towards the exit, a terrible burn and light assaulted Draco's left eye. He almost stumbled forward from such violent sensation, yet he managed to stable himself on his two feet without releasing his firm grip on Luna's sleepy figure. He pressed his back against the wall for support and started breathing soundly.

"_Embrace me and I'll give you power."_ A demonical taunting, mocking voice past by Draco's ears giving him the shivers.

Draco shook his head, clenching teeth. "No…not yet."

Flashing, brightly colored lights in a zigzag pattern started in the left side of his visual field and progressed outward. A pins-and-needles sensation all over his body rendered him incapable of supporting the weight of his and Luna's body any longer. He fell on his knees and then slumped backwards, cushioning Luna's body from the fall with his own.

As his hand rose shakily to wipe the moisture from his face, Draco couldn't help but to stare at that sticky crimson fluid: it was blood. His left eye was bleeding profusely again.

The horde of infernal voices then warned. _"Your enemies are already here, getting closer, and they have only one purpose in mind: to kill you and your lover. You're defenseless now, you can't even move, how are you going to protect what you cherish the most? Choose wisely… choose what makes you stronger…choose what keeps you from dying…"_

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**A/N:**

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**Okay people! Time to clear up some ****major doubts!**

**Whenever Luna addressed Draco as her "beloved" it wasn't her but Scorpius in his unborn form!! :hysterical girlish scream:**

**If you re-read the last couple of chapters, you'd understand the marked difference in ****Luna's attitude (chaining, hurting & submitting Draco) , her remarkable strength (when she confronted Lucius), the change in her voice, the eerie glittering in her eyes, and why she was constantly rubbing her stomach…among other things…well…THAT WASN'T LUNA BUT SCORPIUS!!! Mmmmkay?**

(*) Draco explains what are exactly the _Maschalismos_ rituals on CHAPTER XII

If you don't want to go back and read the whole chapter again, here's the extract:

_Draco held up a hand as he finished a yawn. "Professor, is it true that the Goblins where the first ones to perform the Maschalismos rituals at those who killed in battle?"_

_The see-through eyes of the ghost opened wide, staring at the Slytherin with a questioning look, not because he didn't knew the answer, for he was an unquestionable source of knowledge, but because was trying to figure out the blonde's name inside his head. Binns' primary concern was his teachings and never bothered to remember any __of his student's names, well…probably except for one._

"_That's correct Mr. Malfoy, seems you're keen on the subject, aren't you?" The professor replied with his usual eerie and hollow ghost like voice. _

_Draco __nodded but said nothing__, curling his pale velvety lips with a smirk. _

"_Would you limit yourself to explain the meaning of the __Maschalismos rituals to the rest of your classmates?__"__ The ghost asked as he crossed his arms over his chest. _

"_The __Maschalismos__ is the practice of physically rendering the dead incapable of rising or haunting the living in __undead__ form." Draco paused as he experienced__ a strange and unsettling chill all over his body, __it was because Binns was standing a couple of inches from him. _

"_Ten points to Slytherin! I'm glad to have such an intelligent young man back in my classroom." He congratulated with a casual tone heading back to the front of the classroom. _

_The blond shook his head, trying to get rid of the stricken cold sensation. He narrowed his amethyst blue eyes at the ghost's ethereal projection and added. _

"_The Goblins mutilated the bodies of their enemies during the Maschalismos rituals: first they got rid of the __eyes, ears, nose and genitals and burn them with sulphur. Then they proceeded to cut the extremities off from the dead bodies, fastened the pieces around them, stringing them together, as if they were thus depriving them of strength, so that they would not subsequently terrorize them. The corpses used to wear the extremities on their armpits. The Goblins called this process being armpitted." Draco concluded and leaned back on his sit, noticing that now the rest of his classmates were fully awake with their shocked eyes glued on him and their jaws dropped to the floor. _


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N:**

_**!!WARNING!! **_Moral & Religious topics are being put on trial in this chapter…and it gets pretty violent too…and…well…enough spoilers. Don't like? :rolls eyes: You'd better start desensitizing yourselves right now or you'd miss the best that's yet to come!

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**CHAPTER XXIX**

"_I was born with the wrong sign, in the wrong house, with the wrong ascendancy  
I took the wrong road that led to the wrong tendencies  
I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, for the wrong reason and the wrong rhyme  
On the wrong day at the wrong week, I used the wrong method with the wrong technique._

_There's something wrong with me chemically, something wrong with me inherently  
The wrong mix in the wrong genes, I reached the wrong ends by the wrong means  
It was the wrong plan, in the wrong hands, with the wrong theory for the wrong man  
The wrong lies, on the wrong vibes, the wrong questions with the wrong replies."_

_(DEPECHE MODE – "__Wrong__")_

Draco started to breathe faster to take more oxygen in order to make his heart pump faster in a desperate attempt not to pass-out. The bleeding from his left eye seemed to have stopped the moment he felt the medallion under his shirt shifted its form one last time, but the building pain on the back of his socket was beyond control.

Once he looked at Luna - who lied unconscious by his side - he noticed that the vision on his left eye had completely blacked out by then. As the blond Slytherin concentrated on attuning slowly each one of his senses, he then realized what he was doing wrong: his desperate need to catch up air was turning against him. He pressed his breath down gently after breathing in, stretching tightly his abdominal wall, and held it there for a while before breathing out slowly. He started to do that until he managed to follow a smooth rhythm that would gradually settle by itself without the need to maintain such focused concentration. The moment he regained conscience of his own body and everything around him...he sensed danger.

"What an unpleasant surprise. It's Draco Malfoy, the _fraud_." A disgustingly sadistic voice called out from behind.

Draco produced his wand from his pocket and with an inhuman will-power he slowly got up the floor, shielding Luna with his skinny body. "Look who's talking, _Junior_."

The blond Slytherin measured Bartemius Crouch Jr. with surgical accuracy despite the non-existent sight in one of his eyes, hating every second that vipery tongue came in and out from the corner of those venomous lips.

The Death Eater narrowed his piercing eyes, sneering. "You're venturing into dangerous waters."

"I'm a pretty decent swimmer." Draco replied, mimicking the other's facial expression.

Bartemius rubbed his chin, seizing the blond from head to toe. "You're funny..."

"No, I'm not." Draco paused to smirk charmingly; his blind left eye twitching slightly. "I'm _adorable_."

White flashes assaulted his –up to that moment untouched - right eye with no mercy, submerging Draco's consciousness in a deep state of confusion. His heartbeats increased dramatically, his breathing was becoming dangerously erratic.

Searching for help inside his chaotic mind, the blond pulled out one of Snape's life-saving lectures:

"_Breathing is the door to the mind. If you stop breathing for a single moment, your thoughts will also stop. When breathing stops, the thought process stop, if your thinking is chaotic, your breathing will be chaotic. And whenever you're in chaos, the brain stops working, the brain takes time to think about what to do and what not to do. If you can control your breath, you can transform those feelings into something productive."_

The blond Slytherin stretched his stiffed neck, sneering mercilessly. _"Killing sounds like a suitable and productive alternative."_

For a moment, Draco stood there, sizing up the situation, waiting for the other to strike first and when Crouch Jr. motioned to switch his wand, a blazing killing curse erupted from Draco's wand shortly before flying away from the Slytherin's grip as a second attacker – cowardly hiding in the shadows - cast a disarming spell.

A sudden silence fell over the place as the shadows parted from the figure of the worse of the traitors, Peter Pettigrew, escorted closely by a group of masked Death Eaters. "Killing one of your own?"

"You'll see, I have this _problem_…" Draco's blind left eye twitched by itself again. "I take things personally and this case wasn't the exception. _Junior_ here made a very wrong move when trying to attack me, that mistake cost him his life."

A mocking laughter resounded from behind the mask of a mountain-like figure of a masked Death Eater who was cracking his knuckles soundly.

"You too have a death wish?" Draco asked before making a gesture with his index finger for the bear-sized man to come closer. "Take your mask off, I want to see your face before I kill you."

The giant figure took another step closer, raising his wand, ready to strike. Without waiting another second, Draco flicked his wrist and threw his pocket knife, slashing the air like a cannonball before its double-edged sharp blade got buried right in the middle of the eyes of the mask, splitting it in half, sending the black beast to the floor.

Draco leaned closer, tilting his head to the side as he examined the dead body of his attacker. He retrieved his knife and wiped it clean using the dead man's cloak. "You were right in keeping that mask on: you were indeed a grotesque fucker!"

Clapping hands, Pettigrew rewarded Draco's flawless reflexes. "So, the bigger they are, the faster they fall?"

"Not really. Now, about taking things _personally_…I was very upset with the whole Tri-wizard Tournament façade. Despite that Krum, who was my favorite, didn't make it I had nothing against the idea of Hufflepuff winning the cup either. In fact I supported it because I wanted Hogwarts to win." Draco hissed painfully, he felt his blood burn by then. "Tell me something, it was _you _the one who killed Cedric Diggory, wasn't it?"

Grinning from ear to ear, as if rejoicing himself with the memory, the filthy rat replied. "Yes."

With a lighting whip-lash flick if his wrist, the blond Slytherin released the knife again, but despite being a perfect shot in the middle of the eyes, it didn't hit the intended target for a masked Death Eater placed himself at the very last second in front of Pettigrew, absorbing the blow.

Draco's annoyance with the unexpected outcome was hidden behind an ice-cold immutable face. "As you can see, no matter if the weight of your bodyguards is different, whenever they are stricken equally they'll hit the ground at exactly the same speed-rate. The force of gravity is always constant, proving that the saying _the bigger they are, the faster they fall _is wrong. You were wrong, just like with everything you do_._"

Pettigrew's ugly rodent-like face twisted in an enraged frown. The moment he aimed his wand at Draco an all-black, tall silhouette stamped an open palm on the treacherous rat's temple, pushing him violently against the wall while making its way from the barrier of Death Eaters. "Let me take care of things from here, Peter."

Draco registered in silence when Pettigrew lowered his head and nodded sheepishly to the order. The blond then made a mental note to himself: if the tall Death Eater had a higher rank than the shameless rat-man that meant he'd just found his next opponent. Wandless and unarmed, Draco counted then with no means left to attack. His last resort would have been using his own body as weapon, but he was one step closer to the black-out. That left him no other choice but to discard any offensive attempt and opt for a defensive maneuver.

Taking his mask off, the Death Eater looked at the blond without blinking. "I haven't seen you in quite a while, Draco."

Draco managed a tight smirk when he repaired on who was in front of him, a man in his early forties owner of enviably handsome facial features and intimidating dark-green eyes. The six and a half feet height of his framed perfectly that meager athletic body structure. The blond knew that man. He was Marcus Greengrass the father of one of his Slytherin's classmates, Daphne.

"The moment I heard about the massive break-out in the dungeons of Malfoy's Manson I've came here looking for Lucius whereabouts myself." His voice was velvety smooth and calm.

"Marcus, you know Pettigrew is a well-known traitor and he is jealous of the privileged treat the Dark Lord gives to my father. I bet this rat got something to do with what happened here and with my father's sudden disappearance. I dare say Pettigrew planned this whole façade to trash my father's reputation and take the credit once the prisoners are recaptured." Draco lied, spitting out the best summary of thoughts he could come up with displaying a most studied worried face…oh yes…he was _good_.

The man seized the blond skeptically, but then nodded. "I'm afraid we're dealing with too many traitors among us lately."

Draco noticed that his left eye was twitching again shortly after the vision of his right eye started to come in-and-out of focus. "My father never relied on that rat, neither would I."

Narrowing his piercing eyes, Marcus repaired on the female figure that lied on the floor behind the blond. "May I ask what were you doing with one of the prisoners?"

Clearing his raspy and dried voice, Draco swallowed hard. "I've chased after this girl with the intention of questioning her about the responsible behind the attack, but it's useless: she's dead."

"Dead?" The man paused and leaned closer. "I hate to disagree with you Draco, but that girl is very alive, she just fainted."

"I guess I got a little carried away with the comforting thought that at least one of the prisoners didn't make it alive, my bad." The blond Slytherin replied with a striking morbid sneer.

Draco was getting dizzy with the distorted perception of his surrounding. He'd been already deprived of the sight of his left eye, now it seemed that the same fatal destiny was haunting his other eye. The stinging burning sensation regained intensity along with a killing needles-and-pins numbness on his legs. He forced his dead-weight feet and motion his exhausted body towards the man until they were face-to-face, blocking his path to get to Luna.

"I see…you're _protecting _a lady in distress. You're such a helpless gentleman, aren't you Draco?" The man hissed in his ear.

The blond Slytherin couldn't stifle the spasms on his legs any longer, he smirked painfully. "I take those…to be Daphne's words…and not yours."

"What happened to you? Looks like you're about to pass out." Marcus inspected Draco's clammingly white face with a worried frown. He then grabbed Draco firmly by the shoulders nailing him to the wall preventing an imminent fall to the ground.

With that smooth voice of his, the man smiled bitterly. "Despite my daughter is remotely objective when it comes to praising you and your countless _qualities_, I must admit that you've pulled a remarkable performance here. Without a doubt you've outdone your father but you're not in your best shape right now and that betrayed your act."

"Incarcerous!" Without time for the half-conscious Slytherin to advert what had happened, from Marcus' wand erupted a pair of ropes that encircled Draco's wrists tightly behind his back.

The man spun his head, addressing the rest of his comrades with a harsh scolding tone. "He'll come with me. You can do whatever you please with that girl."

"This is going to be fun!" Two masked Death Eaters cheered, rubbing their hands maliciously.

Pettigrew stepped in front of Marcus with a pissed-off look. "The Dark Lord mentioned he wanted this boy. We should bring Draco Malfoy to Him immediately."

Marcus grabbed Draco's half-conscious skinny body and shoved it against one of his strong shoulder-blades. "I owe alliance to the Dark Lord, not you. I'd wait until I hear His direct orders regarding what to do next with this boy." And with that he pushed Pettigrew aside.

As Draco continued to be carried away from Luna like a broken puppet, he felt his eyelids getting heavier with the pass of the minutes, making almost impossible to keep his eyes open.

Shortly after he noticed that he was being placed again on the floor, the blond opened his eyes and tried to make out from the foggy sight of his right eye where he was: Lucius' private office had a large fireplace, one of the many portals used in the floo network.

Draco felt his throat extremely dry. He swallowed hard and addressed the man with a raspy voice. "Marcus, under whose orders are you exactly?"

"This is for Daphne. She doesn't want you to die. If I succeed to get us away from here you will then _owe_ her_._ I believe you understand what that means: a marriage contract between you and my daughter would benefit both our pure-blood families." There was a harsher tone in his voice this time.

Visibly pissed with Marcus' reply, Draco made a clockwise inspection of the area, looking for something to cut his ropes with as the man kept searching for the Floo Powder pouch inside his cloak.

The second Draco repaired on what was behind him, he smirked to himself. There was this fancy crystal glass and mahogany wood display cabinet where Lucius used to keep his most treasured collection of ancient rarities. Most of the items were complete useless to Draco's purpose except for a little something that would definitely come in handy.

Draco slowly leaned against the cabinet and pulled the door open, sliding inside one of his tied up hands. He stretched his long fingers until they found what they were looking for: an arrow. With its sharp pointed edge he started to rub it against the ropes, they came undone without much effort.

He still couldn't see a thing with his left eye, but luckily by then, the numbness on his body was starting to fade as the accuracy in his right eye increased. Spinning his head to a side, Draco repaired on a framed bow that was hanging from the wall scarce feet from where he was sited.

"_I can do this, right?"_ The blond frowned, weighting the idea inside his mind.

Despite counting with the sight of just one eye, Draco had to rely on his right eye dominance. After all, that had always been his most perceptive eye; it was time to make the best of it in order to compensate his temporal disability.

With a solid plan in mind, Draco grabbed as many arrows as he could, fastening them on the belt loops on the back of his pants waistband without taking his eyes away from his captor.

"Marcus, I was raised to become a Death Eater, you know that. But my father always wanted to take things to a higher level. Over the years I've acquired a very _particular _set of skills that would practically make me a nightmare for those who dare to hunt me down."

The man let go a short laugh and shook his head twice. "Shut up."

"I can't let you take Draco Malfoy with you, Greengrass. I've been recently informed that he's the sole responsible for the escape of the prisoners held in this Mason. He'll be placed into custody immediately by my men." Accused the raspy and low-pitch voice of Augustus Rookwood as the old man stepped inside the room. Draco recognized him; he was one of the many spies Voldemort had in the Ministry of Magic.

Taking advantage of the tension in the air between the two men, Draco decided to make his move. In a same consecutive motion the fearless Slytherin run towards the bow, grabbed it and rolled to the floor, hiding behind a desk. He held the bow with his left hand and grabbed one of the arrows by its end, just above the feathers, between the thumb and first finger of his right hand before coming out from his hiding place, jumping in a cat-like motion on top of the desk. He pulled the bowstring at the point of highest tension and rested his right hand on his cheek, holding that position for a few seconds.

"News travel fast, but I'm fastest." Draco said aiming straight at Rookwood before snapping the fingers that pulled the bowstring at the same time, releasing the arrow in a smooth, lethal way.

Shortly after the old man dropped dead on his back with an arrow that went right through his skull, the room was immediately filled with a dozen of heavy-built bloodthirsty Death Eaters.

Draco repeated the meticulous motion of lowering the bow, placing an arrow in the mark of the bowstring, raising the bow, drawing its string, remaining at the point of highest tension and loosing the shots in record-time without giving the slightest chance for the Dead Eaters to strike back. He began each motion breathing in, holding it firmly and ended with breathing out. By the time the archer's breathing fell into place spontaneously, only two people remained standing in that room.

The blonde's lips curled into a winning smirk as he made a quick inspection of the bear-sized dead bodies that carpeted the floor before aiming at Marcus. "If there's something I hate the most is to _owe _someone. I'm settling my debt with you right now: I'll let you go, unharmed."

Marcus narrowed his piercing dark-green eyes, he was beyond feeling annoyed. "What if I don't accept your offer? Are you going to _shoot_ me too, Draco?"

The strength needed to hold and draw the bow caused the Slytherin's right hand to start bleeding from the friction and trembling slightly.

"Don't try my mercy, Marcus." A vein was already throbbing in Draco's temple.

Taking in full the Slytherin's warning, the man snorted before looking at the emerald green flames of the fireplace in front of him.

"One more thing before you go..." Draco paused; his gaze was fierce, inspired. "I'm already married but most important I do love my wife, she's the only one I desire. Make sure Daphne got the message this time."

The blond Slytherin didn't bother to look a second time at the man as the shocking news contorted grotesquely those handsome facial features seconds before his tall figure vanished in the green sparkling fire.

Draco jumped from the desk, landing smoothly on his bent knees and headed to the door. Without releasing the tight grip on the bow, he'd already prepared the arrow on the sting. Carefully leaning against the door frame, he peeked outside.

Making a quick mental map of what was happening beyond that door, Draco repaired on a familiar reddish halo that was reflected over the ceiling and walls of the corridors. Again those unusual Dark Magic Seals of vengeance - three red circles spinning over a same axis at a different rate – were glowing over the corpses of countless Death Eaters piled on the corners of the now deserted corridors.

"_Who is the one wiping out Death Eaters as they were mere flies__?" _Draco wondered with both jealousy and admiration but was soon brought back to reality when he caught by the corner of the eye a silhouette that called his full attention.

Snape dodged successfully the attack of five Death Eaters – getting rid of four in the process - as he made his way towards the library where he last saw Peter Pettigrew stepping inside the room closely followed by Fenrir Greyback, carrying an unconscious Luna on his back. But in one split second the situation turned 180 degrees to his disadvantage when a Cruciatus Curse got to him, forcing to hit the floor soundly, contorting painfully.

"You fucker! How dare you raise your wand against Hogwarts' Headmaster?!" Draco accused standing on the opposite end of the corridor where Snape and his last standing attacker were positioned.

The blond Slytherin dived backwards to evade the lighting killing curse that went flying in his direction, landing on the floor on his shoulder-blades with his legs above his body in an upside down crouching position. As he balanced his weight over his shoulder-blades, Draco reversed the movement, kicking his legs into the air forcefully, springing back up his body into the air into a standing position back again. That was when the Slytherin raised the bow, drew with his right hand its string at the point of highest tension before loosing the arrow that pierced through the Death Eater's skull, right in the middle of his eyes.

"Bull's-eye!" Draco rejoiced himself after catching his breath, he then held out his right hand for the man to grab it.

Snape's immutable face remained cold as stone, but those pitch-black eyes couldn't disguise the overwhelming relief and joy the moment they repaired on Draco's presence and flashed with an intense light. Once he dropped his gaze on the bow his student was clenching from his left hand, he sighed soundly.

Instead of grabbing Draco's hand, Snape deposited the blonde's wand and pocket knife on his open palm. "I doubt you need them, but I thought you might want them back."

Draco accepted with a wicked smirk, throwing the bow to the floor. "Perfect timing Sir…that was my last arrow." He said, pointing at the corpse of the Death Eater next to them.

"I would have come sooner." Snape started to say, lifting himself from the floor, dusting his cloak. "But I wasn't included in those plans of yours I'm afraid."

Draco's lips curled with the shadow of a smile. "You might not be _included_ in my plans, but you're _present _in every single one of their schemings."

"Malfoy, you can't do it all by yourself, can you?" The elder Slytherin asked. It wasn't because he didn't know the answer or expected the blond to reply; he just wanted Draco to see reason.

"Sir, the future of Hogwarts relies on your hands. If something tragic happens to you because of my personal quest, the next generations would pay the price of my selfishness. I won't let that happen." Draco painfully closed shut his eyes for a brief moment_. "I won't risk the life of anyone I care for again." _

Snape's eyes widened in shock as he took in Draco's reaction, without a doubt his student had changed a lot in an extremely brief lapse of time, but that abrupt change inside the young Slytherin was not one Snape would take it lightly. If Draco was determined to prove his strength why was he exposing his weaknesses so openly? Didn't he realize that his impenetrable emotional shield was full of holes? That boy was still in need of his Head of House's - recently appointed Headmaster after the death of Dumbledore - guidance as much as Snape wanted to continue to be Draco's crouch.

"In order to secure and shape a future one has to take care of the present at all times." The elder frowned worriedly while inspecting his surroundings. "How many fireplaces does this Manson have?"

"There are three: one in Lucius' office, another in his bedroom, and the one in…" Draco didn't finish the sentence and rushed towards the library.

But was too late for the two Slytherins, there was no sign of Pettigrew neither of Greyback or Luna. Draco kneeled in front of the fireplace and picked up a ruby gemstone cut earring shaped as a radish.

"This belongs to her." Draco grabbed it tight in a shaky fist and pressed it over his chest, his voice cracked completely. "The earrings were a Christmas present I gave to Luna before I proposed to her."

Snape repaired on how Draco's face went clammingly pale - matching the white colour of his t-shirt and pants - it was as if he could read what was happening inside the blonde's mind. The emotional wounds Draco had suffered were starting to open by themselves, one by one, bleeding profusely. The man knew that it wasn't going to be easy for his student to heal his psyche this time and wondered just how deep the emotional trauma went.

Draco's body felt like it was being eaten from the inside out, he collapsed onto the floor as his limbs refused to take his weight. He tried to get up from the floor but the spasms caused by the erratic flow of adrenaline inside his body made his muscles tense despite himself making it difficult to move at all. Shortly after that his muscles started to twitch and bulge, muscles he didn't know he had until then.

With the pass of the minutes the sweating in his body increased dramatically, so did the tingling numbness in his body and Draco started to feel nauseous. "What's happening to me?!"

A blinding white light assaulted his left eye moments before Draco regained his vision, now he could see perfectly from both eyes. Snape's pale complexion became white as snow the moment he repaired on Draco's left eye.

"It burns!" Draco pressed his lips tight stifling a sharp cry; his eyes were watering with repressed pain.

Grabbing tight one of Dracos' hands in his, Snape replied sadly. "Like every creature of habit who loves the warmth of the familiar, once it's routine it's upset and its place is disrupted it will grow unmanageable and psychotic. Malfoy, you're slowly awaking what you've been nesting inside all this time. When you've conjured the Inferae's pact to save the life of you wife you've got infected with the Ghoul's powers. With Luna's Lifespan Seal most of those powers remained dormant, but now that the protection of the Seal is fading, the infection is deactivating your immune mechanisms one by one switching them with its own devastating darkness. Don't fight it…it's useless."

Draco was a tight knot on the floor, he forced his next words. "What would happen if I let it all out?"

With a sound sight, the man replied in a toneless voice. "You're asking the wrong question. The problem is what would happen to those around you once you unleash those powers and show your true self."

Releasing himself abruptly from Snape's grip, Draco panicked.

"Sir, get away from me!" The blond felt his breathing becoming more and more erratic, he started panting. "Back up…go now…before it breaks out."

"No." Shaking his head twice, Snape lifted Draco to a sitting position and rested his student's upper body against his chest, rocking him back and forth, holding him firm in an almost parental protective gesture. "I won't let you go through this alone."

"You…don't…understand." Draco felt a growl crawling on the back of his throat. "I'm not alone anymore."

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One of the many carved wood doors from Hogwarts suddenly exploded as an all-black hooded figure kicked it clean off its hinges, the killing curse he'd just cast ripped into the target's head, splattering everything above the eyebrows into the wood. Before his victim's blood hit the ground, the mysterious man was on the move again.

Every single step that wizard took looked almost mechanical. There was no need to think about what he was doing anymore because it was a question of habit, as if his soulless ability to kill came naturally by means of repetition and consciousness was no longer needed.

He weaved against the flow of people who, instinctively, stepped out of his way but came to a halt in his march when he heard the humming of what he considered to be a farewell speech.

"…and deliver us from evil. Amen." The trembling voice of a girl finished praying while kneeling on the floor.

The killing curse that erupted from the hooded man's wand knocked the girl's attacker backwards and sent that body flying into the air, hitting the wall with a devastating sound of breaking bones and ripping flesh.

After a moment, the girl looked up - unsure why she wasn't dead - looking too stunned at what had happened. She felt someone breathing hard beside her. As her almond eyes slowly lifted the floor the repaired on what that person was wearing: black leather boots, tight fitting black leather pants, black silk shirt and a long black snake leather hooded duster.

"Praying to your god, mudblood?" A soulless voice asked from behind the hood. "If he happened to create everything, as your blind faith states, evil exists because he created it too. If your god allows evil to exist is either because he is not good, or maybe his creation turned against him, proving evil is stronger than his maker."

She swallowed hard, unable to move or say a word for that matter.

Once that strongly intimidating figure pulled out the hood from his head, the girl's eyes opened wide as saucers. She gasped for air, repairing on the young man in front of her. The mismatched light of those piercing eyes highlighted his handsome porcelain face of sharp, bony features: his right eye was amethyst blue while his left eye was pearl grey.

"Malfoy?!" She chocked.

Draco shook his head twice, as if getting rid of a trance, and then rubbed his eyes before repairing on the revolting mess sprayed across the wall: formerly a Death Eater's body.

"Granger, did you know that it takes approximately five hundred pounds to crash the human skull?" He asked, his voice denoted a marked lecturing tone.

"No." She hissed.

"I _knew_ I was misjudging you!" He frowned, looking at her as if examining a bug. "You're not as intelligent as I thought you were."

Hermione slowly got up from the floor, wrapping her arms around her, shaking.

"Don't you dare to take another step closer." Draco warned her, taking a few more deep breaths to calm his spirit as he tried to avoid Hermione's stinging scent from assaulting his nostrils.

"This is the second time you've saved me. I'd always be in debt with you, Ron too." She mumbled pitifully.

Draco frowned as her words hit something inside him, something Scorpius had said about Rose's parents:

"_My father used to hate her parent's guts but after he saved her mom twice they learnt to cope, sort of. At least now he doesn't hate her mom, much. It's a pity thing I'm afraid."_

Without removing his judging mismatched eyes from Hermione, he shot back. "Pity? I _despise _weak and hopeless people like you!"

The blond Slytherin's mind continued to drift away from reality, remembering Rose's words this time:

"_I never got the chance to meet my dad; he died before I was born. Scorpius' dad is the closest father figure I've got."_

Draco's heart missed a beat. "Like hell I'd become the godfather of such freak of nature!"

Hermione looked at him through her watery eyes, trying in vain to understand what was happening inside the troubled Slytherin's mind. He had a lost, paranoid look and he was starting to talk with himself just like when happened back in the cemetery field.

Draco then reached instinctively for the medallion under his shirt and rested his hand there. _"The Fiendfire…I've saved that brainless red haired git from dying."_ His pupils dilated in full. _"I've changed the natural course of events."_

People started screaming and running the hell away from there as blasting sounds started to fill the place, bringing Draco abruptly back to reality.

"Move. Now!" He ordered.

Hermione froze, she was in shock. Draco cursed under his breath and grabbed her wrist, jerking her forward just as a pair of Death Eaters came into view like enraged non-stop killing machines, sending glass exploding everywhere from the display cabinets of the corridor's hall. A piece of glass buried into Hermione's leg, making her flop down, wounded.

But Draco was too quick. He still had a hold of Hermione's wrist as he propelled her through the swinging doors of a small room at the end of the corridor. After completing a splendid 360 spin - that made the full-length of his snake skin leather duster wave in the air in a surreal aerodynamic way - by the time the Slytherin faced again the two menacing figures he'd already flicked his wand twice directing the killing curses towards his attackers with flawless accuracy.

Closing the doors shut behind him, Draco shot a pissed off look at Hermione - who was laying on the ground clutching from her wounded leg - before saying. "Potter and his pathetic bunch of _losers_… What made you believe you stand a chance against the Dark Lord's Army?"

Startled once again, Hermione didn't know how to react. "Malfoy, what brought you to Hogwarts?"

"You uncivilized mudblood…never _ever _reply an answer with another, it's impolite and…" He paused; brushing the back of his hand over his lips he kissed his wedding ring before adding with a whip-lash shout. "IT UNNERVES ME!"

Hermione gulped soundly and hugged herself tight, recoiling into a knot on the corner.

Draco looked absentminded after he made a fast scan of the poor lighted room they were in and the inviting smell in the air awoke his empty stomach. "What is this place…a _kitchen_?"

Hermione nodded silently, whispering under her breath a healing spell to close her bleeding wound.

"_Seems that the elves left the place in a rush, whatever there's in this saucepan is still hot."_ He said to himself after lifting the lid and sniffing its content, his mouth was already watering.

Draco grabbed a large sauce spoon and submerged it inside, then poured its content over a bowl. "Specialis Revelio!"

He smirked to himself. Despite the fact that he didn't know exactly what that stew was made of, it was not poisoned, it didn't contain any toxic ingredients, it was edible and most important of all it smelled delicious.

Draco jumped onto the table in a majestic feline silent motion. After kicking it clean from plates, bowls and glasses, he crossed his long legs and took sit, making himself comfortable with a spoon in one hand and a full bowl of stew in the other.

"Those little bastards were keeping it for themselves. They've never prepared anything this good for us before!" The blond complained around a mouthful of stew while helping himself a second serving.

Hermione walked closer to Draco, but she procured to be cautious not to startle the starving blond from his eating-in-silence bliss.

Balancing the spoon between his fingers, he shot back. "The sense of personal space is _completely_ lost in you, Granger."

"You don't look well, seems like you haven't eaten or slept in days." She said with a genuine worried tone in her voice as she rested her gaze on his clammingly sick complexion and the accented black shadow under his eyes.

"The body can survive without breathing for a few minutes, without drinking for several days, without eating for a very few weeks." Draco paused and raised his head from the bowl; his left pearl-grey eye glowed eerily.

Hermione was completely hypnotized. "Why is your eye doing that?"

Without giving her time to react, Draco smashed the bowl against the wall and grabbed Hermione by her forearm, shaking it violently. "My left eye is doing that because my dark side is creeping over the corners at a dangerously fast rate!"

She looked at Draco without blinking before brushing softly the back of her other hand against his grip. "A person who is genuinely kind will always try to make others think badly of him."

Draco released her abruptly and stretched his long legs, walking a couple of steps away from her. "I don't even want to understand you honestly, so I'll simply ignore you."

He tilted his head to the side and narrowed his mismatched eyes at a large scroll that was hanging from the wall: it was a map of Hogwarts. Draco wondered why the elves had it in the first place. Probably they used it to schedule their daily chores around the castle? Dismissing whatever purpose those little bastards gave to that map, Draco was going to make proper use of it. Ripping it from the wall, he placed on top of the table and examined it closely while producing from one of his pockets Luna's radish-shaped earring.

Draco deposited the ruby cut gemstone jewel over the map and raised his wand, focusing his mind in one thing only: Luna. Right then a non-stop series of images of her flashed past by his eyes. He gulped and willed the erotic content of those thoughts away. It was certainly _not_ the moment to imagine her in _that_ way.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Draco tried to focus_ only_ in her face and _not_ in her body. "What I seek, who I seek, where I am seeking, what I seek, who I seek, where I must find, show me, guide me to the one I seek."

The pendant started moving by itself, but soon after that the map set itself on fire. A powerful Dark Magic was enclosing Luna's whereabouts stopping Draco from finding her exact location in the castle: it was evident that Voldemort was using her as bate to get to him.

"_Bad move milord,__ now more than ever things have turned dangerously personal between us."_ There was a wicked gleam in his eyes.

Without repairing on what Draco was doing, Hermione leaned against the table and once she got closer to the saucepan she sniffed it curiously. "There's a reason why the elves never served us this kind of food before. This is a turtle's stew, a typical plate of theirs. For the elves it might only be _meat_ but for us, humans, well…it's _explosive_."

"What are you talking about?!" Immediately after asking that, Draco stifled a ragged moan in his closed shut tight lips.

"It's a powerful aphrodisiac." She replied bluntly.

Draco's pupils dilated in full taking the information in as his sexual arousal monopolized the whole territory of his mind and body. That would have explained why minutes ago he'd imagined himself pressing his long, thick, dripping manhood deep into Luna's tight warmth, filling her as she panted and moaned, giving herself completely open and ready to the pleasure of his assault. He tilted his head up and cursed silently; he literally felt his nose about to bleed by then, his manhood throbbing angrily in the too-tight leather pants he was wearing.

Abruptly, he made up his mind…decisive action was best. When Draco turned to look at Hermione a second time, his face transfixed with the animal inside him. In one quick motion he grabbed her by the throat and pinned her to the wall, smelling the side of her cheek.

Her face blushed in a deep shade of red. "Malfoy, what are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm_ using_ you!" He said in a dark, low voice and he tightened his grip; the fire in his eyes was intimidating enough.

"I know I owe you my life, but..." She closed shut her eyes, trembling.

Every muscle in Draco's lean body tensed suddenly, and the tendons in his neck stood out as he shouted. "SHUT UP!"

Aware that he was rampantly hard inside the confines of that tight black leather prison, he confessed. "This will be quick." His breath was coming in gasps.

Draco let go of her throat and grabbed her wrists, pinning them high above her head and pressed his nose against her neck, inhaling her scent like an addict who was searching for a high.

Hermione started sobbing in silence, a look of shame coming into her almond eyes. "I'll do whatever you want but please, don't hurt me."

He crushed himself against her, not caring all the air in her lungs was being squeezed out and she could barely inhale. Hermione refused to open her eyes, tears came down her cheeks

"Don't flatter yourself. I'd rather mutilate my body than fuck a mudblood." Draco replied, his voice was on the edge of a growl. "But the more I breathe in your filthy scent, the fastest I'll purge my system."

That aroma of hers was indeed making his stomach squeeze in on itself, ready to make him vomit what he'd just eat. Draco then turned round abruptly and jerked his body painfully over the kitchen sink. Feeling the content inside his stomach rising in his throat, he threw up violently.

She hugged herself tight, unable to stop herself from trembling. "Did that help?"

Wiping the sickness from his lips, Draco started to breathe faster again as he suppressed another shiver of lust.

"Remotely…" He said, breathing shallowly like someone who has narrowly escaped drowning.

Hermione stared blankly at him as Draco aimed towards the backdoor. "Wait! There must be hundreds of Death Eaters waiting outside!"

Draco's face – and other parts of his body – hardened even more. He reached down and adjusted himself as best as he could, trying to find room in his pants.

"I'm counting on it. I have to get my rocks off somehow!" He sounded furious; he _was_ furious…and itchy.

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**A/N:**

**HELL YEAH! DRACO IS BACK IN BLACK!! ******(If you enjoyed reading this chapter but don't have a clue what to post as review…just copy & paste)

ARGGG! I'M GOING TO LOSE IT FOR REAL THIS TIME! I've got 87 people subscribed so far to this fiction and less than the %2 (at most) posts reviews?! That makes me wonder…a lot… to the point off setting my head on fire and so I ask myself: "Have they all subscribed but then categorically forgot to check the updates & review?" But then when my dark mood takes over me I reply. "No, they've just forgotten to unsubscribe…" and then I cry until my head hurts…I'd like to hear from you. Hello?!! Is anyone alive out there??!! Say something…_anything._ Whether you agree or not with how the things are developing, if the story is clear or the things are getting wrecked inside your head and you don't have a clue anymore about what the hell is going on? Reviews are like cookies…and I'm literally starving to death :sobs:

_Marcus Greengrass:_ Unless I've got a permanent blank inside my head (happens quite often) there's not mention of this character in the HP series but it's obvious that Daphne has a father so... I've made him from scratch, baptizing him as Marcus (I do believe it's a sexy name, worthy of a fiction stud) Hope he was of your liking. [**SPOILER post 7TH BOOK**: JKR revealed in an interview that Draco Malfoy's wife was Astoria Greengrass (Daphne's little sister)]

Come on! Did you _really _think that Draco was going get dirty with a mudblood? I'm NOT a DM/HG shipper in fact I DESPISE that pairing!!! Those fans who dig that couple… sorry… but…YUCK!!!!

Mmmmkayyy... does anyone have a clue already about who's casting those Dark Magic Seals over the bodies of the Death Eaters?? If you do, you are more than welcomed to leave your thoughts and theories. (And no, it is _not _Snape.)

_**DRACO'S DARK SIDE IS RISING!!! **_

_**Get ready for the next chapter people!!!**__** It'd be full of gore, deviations, taboos, dark magic, sex & violence and SOOOO MUCH MORE… and a HUGE SURPRISE IS COMING TOO!!! WOOHOO!!!!**_

_**NOTE: not recommended to read while eating and/o**__**r drinking (unless it's alcohol…to set the mood).**_

"A person who is genuinely kind will always try to make others think badly of him." (TCR)

I LOVE DEPECHE MODE'S NEW ALBUM!!! MARTIN GORE'S VOICE MAKES ME HIGH!! (While writing his chap I've played the tracks over and over again for inspiration…soooo addictive!)


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N:**

**SPECIAL THANKS TO:**

**black, ****dracosgirl4eva**** , JKRspoilers, luvstar, ****silvergold-quills****, ****s!n, ****tamara72****, vincent1875 & ****XDracoMalfoysGirlX**

**FOR REVIEWING**** & FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!! (Ordered alphabetically but all #1!!)**

_Explanation of what happened at the end of the previous chapter:_ Contrary to the exquisite, addictive scent of a _pure-blood_ pregnant woman (Luna & Nymphadora), the pheromones of Hermione (a _mudblood_ pregnant woman) trigger an opposite effect to those with enhanced abilities such as Draco (because of the Ghoul's powers granted by the Inferae's Pact). That's why Draco is always refusing to get too close to Hermione, because she literally "stinks". And if he sunk his nose in Hermione's skin was to force himself to puke the content of the infamous turtle's stew in a desperate attempt to "purge his system". [In Chapter 19 Draco finds out that Hermione is pregnant because of that disgusting scent of hers and in Chapter 26 Draco starts to suspect about Luna's pregnancy when he confuses Nympahora's exquisite scent with the irresistible perfume of Luna's skin].

_**!!!!WARNING!!!!**_

**SEX, VIOLENCE, GORE, TAB****OOS OF ALL KIND (MORAL, SEXUAL & RELIGIOUS ONES), DARK MAGIC, LOTS OF SWEARINGS… uhmmm …. I feel like I'm forgetting something…what the heck…got ahead, read & you'll find out…**

///////////////////////////**REVIEWING IS FREE!!! TRY ONE, NO CHARGE!!!**_////////////////////////////////_

**CHAPTER XX****X**

_I shred your books of poetry, yes, it's me again, I wreck your positivity, yes, it's me again  
I fuck it to watch it bleed, I kick it to make it scream  
I am the alternate choice to some straight life of mercy  
You see beauty, I see pain, you see sky and I see acid rain__  
I rip your throat out on a whim, yes, it's me again, I only ask for everything, yes, it's me again  
I squeeze it to feel it breathe, I smash it to fuel this need, I am the antidote for whatever sickness you feed  
Little miss fucker don't move an inch, y'all punk suckers cant take the heat  
Your blood rushing from head to feet, this is what I stand for, all injustice that's done to man  
All you fuckers know who I am, I'm living proof that you can, turn around and say: "It's me again"_

_(KORN – "It's Me Again")_

_  
_With such soulless and unpredictable behavior bursting to the surface, that enraged and merciless male figure dressed in black leather would immediately fit the stereotypical definition of an insane being. But it wasn't insanity what was pounding his mind and body in motion; it was all about selfish behavior, some say that's the root of all evil…well…they're right. So many were the dangerous traits embodying this enigmatic character that no words would ever made him justice. Even the way he moved denoted that the animal in that man was no longer on a leash… Draco Malfoy was an unstoppable feline in heat.

The blond Slytherin had never been so high in adrenaline rush: the flashes of the curses, the screams of pain of his victims, the feeling of warm blood splashing around him and even the feeling of his own flesh and bones aching with both pain and desire made him come all over himself…again.

After casting the final killing curse, all hope of maintaining control was lost and he came one more time with great ragged breaths and hard convulsed muscles.

"Oh gods!" Draco panted, coming hard.

The burning sensation on his body seemed to go on forever before Draco's heart rate began to return to _normal_. His morbid curiosity got the better of him as his pearl-gray left eye twitched while scanning up-close what he'd just finished creating: a violent and angry abstract monstrosity in crimson and other shades of red plastered on the wall with blood clots slowly dripping onto the floor.

"I've got an eye for framing things." Draco said with a husky voice to his last standing enemy while appraising his masterpiece with pride, dark red coated his fingertips and dripped down his hand.

Without a doubt the Slytherin now counted with a sinister left eyethat appreciated _beauty_ and knew exactly how to capture it.

The Death Eater eyed Draco warily, as if evaluating the Slytherin's sanity and next move. "You're a psychopath."

"You…me…deep down inside we _all _want to kill. Now why do you think that is?" Draco paused, looking at a group of people standing against the opposite wall of his gory art design. "Because it's inherent in our nature, we humans are the only animals that kill for _pleasure_. We kill to prove that we _can_, but also because it's our most basic instinct."

Those people - mostly kids that Draco deducted were followers of Potter – with busted lips, black eyes, gashes on their disfigured faces and severe concussions on their broken bodies had been physically tormented and mentally abused by the bunch of vicious Death Eaters Draco capriciously put to sleep for good.

The Slytherin moved in close, eye-to-eye and nose-to-nose, his voice dropped low and menacing. "We're killers but also Death Eaters: we have no mercy, no conscience and no heart. All we seek is absolute power and the entire world is our killing field."

He narrowed his mismatched color eyes and took a couple of steps away. Shooting his right leg forward in the air, pivoting it slightly, he delivered a nasty side kick to the neck of his attacker. "And if chose to kill fuckers like you is because I like to expose cowards for what they are!"

The precision and force of such powerful blow smashed the neck bone and made the Death Eater's body spin with the impact, flying in the air before landing on the floor, splaying the body out in a very un-natural looking position.

"You should have paid more attention to my foot instead of fixing your gaze on the wand that killed your comrades. I couldn't help it…I needed to get _physical_." But the man was no longer listening to Draco, he was dead.

A boy got up from the floor and walked a few unsure steps towards his _savior_. The rest of the people followed then, blocking Draco's way, circling the blond like vultures around carrion, something the Slytherin detested. "If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have made it alive."

"I did this for myself. I couldn't care less what happens to you all." Draco lifted his sore gaze from the floor, shaking his head twice before pushing them out of his way and started walking away without saying another word.

That same teenager - a Hufflepuff according to his uniform clothes – numbly watched Draco walk away but then he sobered up quickly. "Please, don't go! We need someone like you to lead us!"

"Someone like _me_?" Draco spun sharply his head towards him and wiped the sweat and blood from his forehead with two fingers before asking with a low voice full of rage. "What do you _think_ you know about _me_?!"

"Looks like you won't let things continue the way they are, not until you find a closure to all the challenges and the hardships and the losses to move on with your life, am I right Malfoy?" And then he cried with rage, anger and frustration. "I want to avenge my fellow classmate!"

"You're not the only one who doesn't want Cedric Diggory to have died in vain." Draco arched an amused eyebrow, that boy had certainly caught his attention. "Remind me who are you, I hate to talk to a nameless face."

"I'm Justin Finch-Fletchley." The boy replied without blinking.

They silently stare into each other's eyes for a tense moment before Draco spoke again. "I see. You want to make _justice_ to that birth-name of yours in spite of your muggle-born status."

The Hufflepuff returned the stare, looking as resolved and serene as he could master. "My blood might not be pure as yours, but that doesn't make me less of a man."

To everybody's surprise, Draco nodded. He then brushed briefly one fingertip on Justin's cheek - leaving a trail of warm blood - making the boy jump out of his skin with such spooking sensation. "Don't confuse self-esteem with self-denial. Today your competence and ability had been put on trial and you've _failed_, proving that the judgment of the worth of your own person was _wrong_."

Justin shook his head, forcing himself not to cry, fighting against his sense of despair.

"Listen boy, there is nothing either good or evil, but thinking makes it so." The blond Slytherin paused and smirked in a cold, cynical way. "Still there are two types of people in this world: those who inflict pain and those who suffer it. Ask yourself which one you want to be and act accordingly. That's all you need to know, you're on your own."

And with that he shoved the boy to a side and walked away, Justin's eyes remained glued to Draco's back.

"Zank you! Zank you so much for saving my life!" A young woman cupped Draco's cheeks in her hands and kissed him twice on each corner of his lips before slamming her tall and slender body against his in a tight embrace.

Draco was soon caught up with the piling ecstasy that assaulted him with no mercy with such violent contact and immediately sensed _something_ in her. The Slytherin was starting to get drawn to her. He couldn't stop the sexual attraction from building up inside him. The irresistible perfume of her pheromones was driving him insane. It was several times more appealing and more seductive than the scent coming from a pregnant pure-blood woman and it was because that woman happened to be...

"_She's part Veela."_ Draco mentally cursed and rolled his eyes back in his head. He was seeing stars by then and collapsed onto the floor, the woman on top of him.

"Oh no…you've been injured, you're bleeding." She undid the silk handkerchief from around her neck and pressed it softly against Draco's nose, wiping it clean.

She then turned her head so that her warm lips brushed softly his ear and hissed. "Wake up, please, wake up."

The eyelids of the blond Slytherin fluttered open, catching a close-up of the curve of her exposed neck facing right at him. At that moment Draco found himself weighting one fixed idea but then he mentally slapped his senses back to reality, reminding himself that he wasn't a blood-thirsty vampire.

"It's hurting again..."Draco complained under his breath, he was starting to feel dangerously aroused.

"Where does it 'urt?" She asked without removing her curious blue eyes from him.

"Auuwhh…" Draco grabbed his heart and willed its pulse to slow, his crotch was twitching with desire but he tried to squash the feeling away.

Completely unaware of the source of the Slytherin's agony, the young woman bit her lip, looking worried. "Is zere anyzing I can do?"

"A lot actually, your body looks pretty flexible." Draco confessed as countless images of the things he'd want to do to her flashed in front of his eyes and his pulse skyrocketed.

Biting her lower lip, she smiled sadly. "I don't understand."

"Soon you will …ahhh…uuwwhh!" Draco's eyes crossed the moment she unconsciously rocked her hips against his while trying to give him some space.

A flood of pleasure erupted inside him, taking his breath, his coordination…everything.

"Did I do somezing wrong? Are you okay?" Panic tinged her voice.

His teeth dug deeper into his lower lip but a groan still escaped. "Hit…me…"

"But…w'y?" She asked in genuine bewilderment.

"Just do it. Hit me, hard." Draco pleaded; he was starting to perspire profusely.

"I can't. I'm sorry." She then traced the back of her palm against one of his cheeks causing Draco to whimper at her touch.

Draco shook his head twice, trying to focus but his hands had a mind of their own and were already sliding down the sides of her back. Half-lidded and almost sleepy with lust, his mismatched eyes darkened even more.

"I don't think I'd be able to refrain myself if you don't do something to stop me." He confessed contorting his face in a combination of frown and grin; his need for release was too painful.

And that's when the woman finally realized what was going on when she sensed Draco's hardness pressed between her thighs. Grabbing a fistful of his shirt, she pulled herself a little far down and arched her body on top of him - until their bodies were almost in synchro - and slapped him hard on the face.

Draco let go a strangled moan, his pale cheek was redden with the imprint of her open palm. Contrary to what he had expected that physical roughness only aroused him more and the woman seemed to be enjoying that mild domination game. Heat and friction sent waves of desire through Draco from his skull to his _other _head.

"Hit me again, harder. This time with your hand closed." He encouraged, gasping for air while his hands ringed her slim waist, pressing her body closer, rubbing himself against her in a devious, slow friction.

After hitting him hard with a closed fist the woman wrapped an arm around Draco's neck and yanked him up, pressing her mouth hard against the Slytherin's tight shut lips. Draco's jaw was starting to hurt with a hot throbbing soreness – matching his aching manhood - and such brutal stimulation almost made him pop.

Her other hand wrapped around Draco's rock-hard erection and squeezed, the Slytherin opened his mismatched eyes wide in shock, his mouth stayed closed. _"I can't do this… to Luna."_

With an inhuman will-power Draco pulled her away from him and yelped with a hysterical cry. "GET OFF ME! NOW!"

Draco's breath was coming in rapid pants past his lips. Once free from under her weight, he got up the floor and wrapped himself with his long all-black snake leather duster following the motion of a bat when folding its wings. The pupil of his right amethyst-blue eye was the first to swell the moment her image clicked vaguely inside his head.

He hummed in deep thought. "You look like one of those Beauxbatons' french chicks."

She smiled and nodded. "I'm Fleur Delacour."

The Slytherin shot her an intrigued look but slowly his facial features hardened. "I knew I've seen you before."

Draco produced his pocket knife, grabbed it by the end of the handle between his thumb and forefinger, and cocked his right arm just behind the ear.

"You shouldn't have addressed me with such euphoric manner." He said, by this time his face was blank and his voice emotionless.

She just stared at him, unable to move or bring herself to talk.

After shifting his weight to the front leg, Draco twisted slightly his hips and shoulder as he made the throw, rocketing the power of his body into the smooth stroke of throwing the knife with his right arm, driving its blade with maximum force, velocity, and accuracy right in the middle of the eyes of…the Death Eater that had appear seconds ago just behind Fleur.

Fleur sat up on her own holding her head, shaking like a leaf. "Oh my God!"

"You're a disgrace to your gender, sleazy excuse of a woman." Draco sentenced with a pissed-off look as he walked past by her.

It was true; bitterness was a major part of his unique personality, which was why Draco simply couldn't resist the _bittersweet_ fiber of a true gentleman from surfacing. It was the way his mother had raised him and he promised to himself he'd never be like his father, but that didn't meant Draco wouldn't push his convictions to a dangerous extreme either. His appraisal of the opposite sex might have been labeled as exceedingly peaky, strict, and maybe old-fashioned but again everything Draco did had always been ironically criticized and praised with equal force, that case wasn't the exception.

The moment Fleur motioned to get up, Fernir Greyback, was standing right in front of her, smiling in a funny way, displaying a disconcerting row of triangular sharp teeth. "Do you wanna get fucked?"

For that werewolf, the infliction of misery and pain, the delicate art of murder and torture were his only means of expression. He could take joy only from the suffering of others, but he wasn't the only one who lived to gratify his own desires and to dominate others...Draco Malfoy also shared that same vision.

"Is that supposed to be a threator an _invitation_?" The glint in Draco's left pearl-gray eye was turning wicked as the tempting idea presented itself inside his mind.

The Slytherin immediately placed himself between the werewolf and Fleur and focused on that mouth in front of him, gross lips over gross gums over yellow blade-sharp teeth and once both were facing each other, before asking. "Do you like what you see?"

Fernir was not only built like a mountain with muscles rippling out of his cloak, but like the fighting machine he was in the wild: pure animal strength. He grinned, following the lines of Draco's body with his eyes. "I can't deny you're a juicy treat."

Each waited for the other to blink first, long seconds passed in silence before Draco broke the quiet atmosphere and smirked flirtatiously. "What are you waiting for? _Do _me!"

"You're not only beautiful, your audacity is quite impressive too!" Fernir's mouth watered.

Quickly, cleanly, without mercy and almost instinctually the blond Slytherin stroke first. "Sectumsempra!"

The power of Draco's curse hit Fernir so hard that the blow made the werewolf's eyes rolled to the back of his head before collapsing on the floor. Blood started to drip down his face and off his chest and that only managed to enrage him even more.

"I'm going to break you in half, blondie." A red thread was coming out of the corner of the werewolf's mouth as he coughed.

"And how are you going to do that exactly?" Draco purred, his voice thick with desire. "Be as graphic as you can for I want to picture clearly inside my head what you want to do with me. Pain is _good_ for the soul, is a reminder that life is harsh and it has to be met on its own terms."

Draco was high, high on his desire to kill, high on the euphoria. He was about to collapse just with the mere idea of Fernir's blood dripping from the ceiling down to the floor, that crimson rain washing over every single inch of his aching body.

Fernir frowned angrily. "You're twisted."

"And what else? Come on! Talk dirty to me!" Rolling dramatically his mismatched eyes, Draco exhaled soundly. "No time for foreplay, let's get down to business."

The Slytherin disarmed and threw himself over Fernir, both rolled on the floor until Draco was on top. He then cupped the werewolf's hands above the head, piercing the flesh with the blade of his pocket knife, stabbing them onto the floor. The wolf tried to buck him off, but the blond was resolved, his body set and unmovable. Draco's long and firm thighs were pressed against the werewolf's waist like a tourniquet.

"The girl you kidnapped at Malfoy's manor, where is she?!" The Slytherin asked, pulling away with both hands the damp silk blond blocks plastered to his forehead.

"I'm not telling you jack." Fernir confronted him, but his voice was weak.

But the werewolf wasn't going to keep quiet for long, he kept twisting his body under Draco, moving faster and faster to wrench free. The friction between their bodies was making the blond climbing to the bursting point of his _patience_ way too fast.

"Behave, you _bitch_!" Draco groaned, his face glistening with sweat.

"Fuck you!" Fernir cursed, spitting saliva mixed with blood.

Draco's left pearl-gray eye darkened with the fire of his arousal. "Gladly..."

The Slytherin reached into his duster pockets, produced a pair of black leather gloves with metal plates fixed to the knuckles and backs of the hands and started to put them on. Every blow was deadly, precise and flesh devourer. Draco's aching need to get physical matched the need to inflict as much pain as possible to his victim.

"Feeling chattier now?" He muttered between clenched teeth as he adjusted his black gloves, cracking his sore knuckles.

But all Fernir did was smile painfully, his bloody thick skin protesting with the vicious treatment.

A solid right hook landed in Fernir's face. "What did you do to her, fucker?!" Draco wasn't kidding, fury coated every word.

Summoning a surge of strength from out of his arse, Fernir pulled from the knife's blade to free his hands and took a swing at Draco. Only his lightning-fast reflexes saved the blond from getting his skull split in half with such violent blow. Draco shifted position immediately and jumped like a cat, making a full 360 degrees spin in the air, landing smoothly on the floor with one kneeled leg, a couple of feet away from Fernir.

Draco had never felt such pure, unadulterated rage. It was dark and violent, slashing him through like a scar across his soul. "CRUCIO!"

He rubbed his eyes with the ghost of tiredness but the peak of adrenaline sky-rocket one more time, filling him up while walking towards the convulsing figure of his prey and leaned closer.

The intensity of the gaze Draco shot Fernir resembled the one of a mentally unstable man that would wipe out anything and anyone who dare to come across his path to get what he wanted. "I'll ask one last time. What have you done to her, where is she?!"

The blonde's left pearl-gray eye struck cold terror into Fernir for the first time. "I didn't lay a finger on that girl, not because I didn't want to but because the Dark Lord said so."

Draco still looked beyond pissed, without removing his mismatched eyes from Fernir, he stretched his arm to his side and he flicked his wrist it once, following a whip-lash movement. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

The Slytherin's yell echoed on the rock walls of the castle as the blinding green zigzag flashes hit its target: a Death Eater coming from the west side of the corridor who had no better idea than to attack Draco from behind. "If you don't tell me where she is, you'll join your comrade in no time."

"The Dark Lord got her, but I don't know where. You're one of us blondie, wait until He calls for you." Fernir grinned nervously twitching his face in pain.

Quickly, with hurricane force, a pair of Death Eaters popped up from nowhere, snapping Draco's attention out of focus for a fatal second. By the time he opened his eyes, he realized that a stunning spell had thrown both him and his wand flying in the air on separate ways before smashing his back against a hanging coat of arms that now lied on his lap. All eyes were on the blond as a heavy silent descended across the room.

Draco repaired on the long steel sword of the coat of arms. He smirked to himself, sliding the sword from its sheath. He grabbed it with his right hand before hauling himself to his feet.

Despite his leather clothes – a gift from Lucius meant to be used for the first time once the blond Slytherin finished his training as Death Eater - proved to be the best gear to engage in battle but he was starting to suffocate inside them. Draco stripped off his all-black snake leather duster as he ran towards the two masked men.

Fernir – who was still laying on the floor - turned slowly to lift himself up and that's when he caught sight of one of the Death Eater's shadows cast on the wall in front of him shortly before it got cut in several parts and collapsed.

"Want a piece of me, fucker? Come and get it while it's hot!" Draco sentenced to the other masked man, wiping off the blood of the sword over the crumpled remains of the first Death Eater.

The Slytherin quickly raised the sword, swinging its blade in the air with majestic grace as if it was part of his own body. He was delighted with the whooshing sound of the long steel blade cutting the air around him as the smooth silk of his half-buttoned black shirt undulated against his lean torso.

"Lucius used to say: _The path towards_ _excellence and perfection is a long and tough one, fraught with too many pitfalls. The broadening training will do you good, son._ I hate to admit it, but the bastard was right!" Draco stopped abruptly the impressive display of his ability of drawing figures in the air with the sword - as he fan himself - and aimed forward.

The blade went straight through the abdomen of the second Death Eater and protruded on the other side. Once he pulled it out the man collapsed to the ground, mortally wounded.

"Today's graduation's day." Draco paused and looked at Fernir. His breathing was coming more rapidly now as a slight shiver traveled up his spine. "Let's get this party started!"

Making a running start, the Slytherin jumped and sent a flying a kick in the air right into the werewolf's face. The heavy blow produced a major fracture of Fernir's nasal bone, splattering a massive shower of blood as his body went through a window into a balcony and hit the floor soundly.

Outside it was raining hard, showering Draco's head. The raindrops ran in streams down his pale face, cascading down his black silk shirt and black leather pants as the water fell over him. He welcomed the sensation of the cold water running down his feverish body: it turned out to be an unexpected and most welcomed soothing treat.

Draco kicked obscenely open-wide Fernir's legs and that made pop the arse up in the air. He studied the half-conscious werewolf laying on the floor in his stomach while swinging the sword in the air. But then Draco's eyes began to dance following the rhythmic movement of the blade, he was about ready to explode with ecstasy.

"Oh yes, this is going to hurt you, _bitch_." Draco's voice was low, heavy and dripped with murderous lust. He then began to laugh hysterically. "But I'm going to fuck you _really_ good!"

The Slytherin's body shivered and shook and his muscles contracted, knowing a climatic wave was going to knock him up in no time. Draco grabbed the sword by the handle with both hands and plunged it deep thought Fernir's arse-hole, thrusting it all the way inside the werewolf's limp body, until the edge of the blade pop out from his mouth: he'd used the sword as a skewer, piercing Fernir like a brochette.

With such morbid display in front of his eyes, Draco contained his fervor no more. He dropped to his knees a couple of feet away from the impaled werewolf and convulsed violently, arching his back sending a growl so strident that would definitely turn his voice hoarse for the next couple of hours.

Draco waited for his accelerated pulse to slow as he came down from the highest of highs before doing anything else but it looked like the adrenaline wasn't wearing off. Something hot and heavy continued its way down his body.

Startled by a reddish light coming from the room behind him, the blond picked himself up from the floor and, with shaky knees, he stepped inside. Opening wide those piercing mismatched eyes of his, Draco scanned meticulously the place. An odd sense of déjà vu haunted him. He tried to make out inside his skeptic mind not only _what _had just happened there but also _who_ could have done _that_. Countless Death Eaters lied dead on the floor and floating over their corpses were again those red three red circles spinning over a same axis at a different rate: the ancient Dark Magic Seal of Vengeance.

Draco picked up his wand and forgotten duster and wrapped inside it once more, an ice-cold murderous smirk curled Draco's lips. _"Looks like I'm not the only one who's taking the law into his own hands..." _

As the blond Slytherin walked past the vast number of limp bodies carpeting that room - and the one adjoining - he called out with a hoarse, low voice. "He…Hello?! Are you still in here?!"

But Draco only received a dead silence as reply and that only fueled his frustration. "Who are you?! Why do you keep hiding from me?! DAMNIT!" His cry only made his throat burn from the effort.

Draco halted abruptly and hugged himself tightly; his breathing was shallow and rapid: he was getting dangerously aroused. His libido was rebuilding by itself, growing, swelling, bursting inside the cage of his flesh and bones.

The blond Slytherin looked down at his crotch, he was hard as a rock and he could barely walk straight_. "You've got to be kidding me!"_

In the course of the next few minutes the light-headedness told Draco that it was the least of his worries, what was dangerous was the reason behind it: the countless number of times he'd climaxed had distorted his heart-rate, pushing it to inhuman limits.

Draco felt an uncomfortable pressure squeezing in the center of his chest. He started panting for breath as the discomfort on his chest got heavier and his stomach started to get sick. Without being able to stifle the sickness any longer, he fell to the ground as the first retch tore through his throat forcing him to throw up_. _

His eyes were watery and drops of sweat shone on his ghostly face, he recalled Snape's words:

"_Don't fight it…it's useless. The transformation would be both physically and mentally, it will first take place as a subjective shift in the consciousness, but then will proceed to manifest itself in more physiological ways."_

In such state of trance, the sight of his – until then untouched - right amethyst blue eye started to switch in and out of focus as the vision field on his left pearl-gray eye become more vivid, and the images sharper and clearer than ever.

Draco squeezed his eyes shut and clamped his teeth tighter, fighting against the desire to let the darkness inside him grow in intensity and became part of him. He tried to rebuild the walls of the dark corners and shadowed areas of his soul from taking him over. _"Oh Merlin, make it stop!"_

The medallion started to morph under his shirt, but unlike before it wasn't able to stop by itself the bleeding of his right eye.

"_You'd not only earn a new strength but also summon a sinister power. Wherever you will go, there will be nothing but darkness__." _Narcissa's words reverberated in his mind and panic suddenly exploded inside Draco.

Placing one hand against his bleeding right eye, Draco got up from the floor and stormed towards Snape's office.

llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

Draco prepared himself to engage a one-to-one confrontation: it was going to be personal and bitter. Whether he succeeded or not with his purpose, something was definitely going to die in him: one of his two opposing forces...the light or the darkness. He was going to _exorcise _himself and the outcome of that would trim any possibility of turning back on his steps or make up for his loss.

The Slytherin knew that with the magical violence he would create, he'd end up with serious physical wounds in the middle of a devastated place, so he stored safely the potions on one corner of the room and sealed it shut before vanishing the rugs, pictures, curtains, chairs, boxes, trunks, desk and every other object - light or heavy – that might move about, rock back and forth or fly across the room during the exorcism.

"_You'd never cease to amaze me either, Sir. No wonder__ it's your office, this is the only energetic sacred place in the whole Castle. I promise I make up for the mess…or maybe not." _Draco smirked mischievously._ "You're Headmaster now so this is no longer your office. I guess I can dispose of it as I see fit…all right then!"_

Draco grabbed tight his wand in his energetical projective right hand and traced a clockwise circle of light around him. Once he finished drawing it he felt the energy and vibration inside the circle starting to change his inner and outer perception.

Facing the power starting point, the blond called out loud. "To the North, I call upon the element of earth to be present. Hail Mother-Earth and welcome, I call thee to bring balance to my body."

Standing in the middle of the circle, Draco slowly started to turn clockwise, as he spoke again. "To the East, I call the element of fire to be present. Hail Light Force and welcome, I call thee to bring balance to my soul. To the South, I call upon the element of air to be present. Hail Wisdom Sparkle and welcome, I call thee to bring balance to my mind. To the West I call the element of water to be present. Hail Crescent Moon and welcome, I called thee to bring balance to my heart."

The symbol then achieved corporeal form, emanating an incandescent bright ash-yellow light once the last of its five vertexes assembled into a perfect five pointed star. "I stand here not only as Draco Malfoy but also as the incarnated Symbol of _Devastation_, for D it's the initial letter of my name and of the celestial enlightened Constellation of the Dragon that empowers my earthly body. EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

The enormous silvery white-blue luminescent silhouette of Draco's protector animal opened wide its wings and wrapped the blonde inside, guarding its maker for what was coming.

"I command the faithless and precipitous depths, winding, black ever rolling abyss of Hades to open its doors, revolving, whirling forth, crying aloud!" The voice coming from Draco was cold and harsh but trembled with repressed anger.

The atmosphere in the room thickened, the air smelled like burned ashes and a humming sound creaked over the ceiling. The door of the office banged open and shut itself almost immediately, threatening to destroy the hinges and frame and the glass panels of the only window exploded, splattering million fragments onto the floor like rainwater before the incommensurable pitch-black portal of Hades opened its gates in front of Draco.

Pointing his wand towards the gates, he called again. "Shall the enlightened power in me counterbalance the one of eternal darkness as the force elevate and nurture the light of the four elements and my magic elevates the wings of the aerial and its volatilising nature, pouring together the fluidic fire and the fiery water thus combining, harmonising and tempering those opposing elements. Subtilis, element of air…Aqua, element of water…Lux, element of fire and Terra, element of earth…hear my voice calling upon the four of you to advance equilibrated and equated against the dark side of my soul!"

Draco's skin then became highly sensitive to the stimulus of his surrounding as he felt the perspiration break out under his shirt. His blood was literally melting his veins, the steam coming from his soaked wet skin denoted a dangerous peak in his body temperature. "Only in and by the reconciliation of the opposing and complementing elements, I, the Symbol of _Devastation_ tame, subdue, master and exorcise the unbalanced forces to depart and to cease their chaotic habitation of my right eye!"

Torrents of profanities, obscenities, grunts, barks, curses, yelps and snorts erupted past by his ears, slashing his flesh, threatening to take over the Slytherin's strength and rendered him down to his knees, but Draco was putting a tough fight, refusing to succumb to the commands those voices. "I repel you and expel the unbalanced and chaotic forces by the secret knowledge and power of the Symbol of _Devastation_!"

A crawling nausea took over him; Draco suddenly threw his head forward and retched violently. There was almost nothing left in his stomach to throw up when his retching kept coming in painful dry heaves.

"I adjure you, depart, tremble and flee. Let no breath of infection, no disease-bearing air remain in this place for I consign you all to Hell!" Blood slowly started to pour out from Draco's mouth as well as from his right eye; he could feel the darkness looming over him with no remorse.

Draco called again, chocking on his own blood. "I adjure you again, depart, tremble and flee! I consign you all to Hell!"

Outside the circle, everything started catching fire and the pentagram switched from ash-yellow to burning red, slowly consuming its protection and testing the diminishing strength of the patronus charm as the darkness made its way towards Draco.

Red sparks flashed behind Draco's amethyst blue right eye as an unearthly voice started to fill the room, deafening Draco's ears with its infernal scream. "Descendeth into Hell and thus thou comprehend that the evil light and that darkness vibrate in the frame of thy body and soul!"

And that was when another climatic wave unexpectedly came crushing over Draco. Unable to contain his arousal no more, his eyelids slipped shut and he gave a high pitched cry. "OH GODS!"

A silent figure entered from the window, landing smoothly and quietly on the floor, kneeling on his forward knee. Despite the bending position that male body was the epitome of health, there wasn't a hint of fat around his waistline. His immaculate white t-shirt and pants, both soaked wet by the pouring rain outside, highlighted even more all the attributes of his god-like athletic anatomy. Blazing ink-black eyes, smooth ebony skin, toned arms, chest broad and firmly muscled, defined six-pack, long and slender toned legs, he was the embodiment of strength and power.

Raising high his wand, the all-white dressed wizard stood outside the circle and called out. "I am the Purified, I have passed through the Gates of Darkness into the Light, I have entered into the Invisible, I am the Sun in his rising. I have passed through the hour of cloud and of night. I am the Justified one, the Rescuer unto the Light. Out of the Darkness, let the Light arise!"

A blinding white explosion filled the room, extinguishing the flames as a second circle was drawn on the outside of the first one reinforce the protection and the powers of the pentacle making the darkness retreat slowly from Draco.

The young man positioned himself on the borderline of the inner circle and spoke again. "Before me stands my brother, Draco Malfoy, darkened for a period, symbolizing the cloud that rests upon the sanctuary of his soul. He cannot walk alone and hence so depends upon my guidance. I will not desert him. He will be brought safely and surely into the secret place of the Light. I postulate myself to mediate and reconcile in virtue of purity the higher aspirations of my brother's soul so that he may seek the equilibrium which reconciles Light and Darkness. I am Power, Light, Mercy and Wisdom."

Without moving from where he was standing, the young wizard aimed his wand towards Draco. "The night shall be enlightened with the day. I purify my brother with water and consecrate him with fire. Through the darkness of time and night, I stand in front of the Gates of Hell and I turn away, destroy and cancel all harm done to my brother as I cry out: ENOUGH!"

A horde of diabolic mixed voices grunted. "Justified one, by inscribing and handling over thee a fallen soul, your enlightened spirit shall pay an equal burden in thy after-life."

Those perfect facial features of his hardened in complete control. "I understand and accept the penance weighted upon me. My brother and I, our bodies share the same blood in this life, our souls would share the same fate in death and confront the same torments in the after-life. I now declare the portal of the precipitous depths, winding, black ever rolling abyss of Hades duly closed. May my wish and command be fulfilled! So mote it be!"

With a crashing thunder-storm like sound the gates of Hell closed as the polluted air slowly renewed its purity.

Grabbing tight his wand, the all-white dressed Slytherin called out one last time. "To the North, I thank and release the element of earth. To the West, I thank and release the element of water. To the South, I thank and release the element of air. To the east, I call and release the element of fire. Hail and farewell!"

Draco's heart was pounding in his ribcage, his lungs gasping for air. He couldn't believe what was witnessing anymore.

"Blaise, you're here." The blond whispered, barely believing it, his skin was tinted with the afterglow of his last climax.

Draco aimed towards his best friend, but retreated on his steps as he saw Blaise starting to breathe hard, curling both his hands into tight fists walking straight into him with a pissed-off look.

"You crazy bastard, what the fuck were you thinking?!?" Blaise sent a fist through one of the walls and left a large, gaping hole in the plaster mere inches from Draco's right cheek.

The damped white t-shirt emphasized the toned muscles of Blaise's chest and upper arms, making him even more intimidating, looking like he could easily break the skinny blond like a chopstick if he wanted.

"Wha…?" Draco gulped nervously trying to catch Blaise's words as the high-pitch buzzing sound in his ears started to fade.

Pieces of plaster of the ceiling fell as Blaise nailed his other fist, cornering Draco against the wall. "The chances to survive the invocation of an awakening ritual are non-existent!"

"Yes, you're right about that." Draco felt Blaise's warm breathing all over his face, he swallowed hard. _"_The price to bring someone back is an exact trade but I..."

"I woke up in the middle of an end-of-the-days battle in the cemetery field that pretty much resembled Hell but it all became a million times worse when I've realized that I was _alive_! How could you've made such decision for me?!" Blaise paused, his face contorted as if he might cry. "For fuck sakes! Who do you think you are…God?!"

Draco made a quick negative motion with his head and sighed soundly, considering what he wanted to say. "I'm better: I'm an alchemist."

With the adrenaline pumping and oblivious to the pain, Blaise didn't repair that his bleeding knuckles starting to heal by themselves. "I _died_…you brought me _back_ and you…you're the luckiest son-of-a-bitch ever…you _survived!_"

"Yeah, I'm so lucky." Draco's voice held a tint of disappointment trimmed with sadness, he looked down and sighed soundly.

"Hey!" Blaise snapped his fingers in front of Draco's mismatched eyes but then he started sniffing him. "Mate, you smell funny."

"Sulfur." The blond replied bluntly.

"No, I've wiped out all demonical presence from you. You've got a very strong _human _scent all over you." Blaise paused, biting his lip.

Draco started sweating despite himself; his long black leather duster was starting to feel way too heavy over his shoulders. "Look, I'll explain all to you later, trust me."

"Bollocks!" Blaise's dark eyes narrowed. "You might have an almighty complex, but you've completely lost your mind! You were going to trade your life for mine?! Do you think you're immortal or what?!"

"Teachings that do not speak of pain have no meaning." Draco said rubbing a hand over his chest, feeling the cuttings on his body slowly closing, he then lifted a hand to his amethyst blue right eye, noticing that it stopped bleeding and his vision cleared up. "And talking about pain…my right eye, it doesn't hurt anymore."

Grinning amusingly, the other replied. "I've stopped the darkness from taking you over and I even managed to keep things the way they were, but you'd better don't push your luck. Next time I intervene, it would leave permanent stigmas on both of us."

"Stigmas?" Draco frowned, questioning. "What did you do exactly?"

Waving a hand in the air – with a gesture of easing the weight of a heavy subject - Blaise pulled out a perfect theatrical performance, as if rejoicing himself. "All I know is that Hades won't be the same once we get there. _We_ are the threat!"

The blond Slytherin went pale and his lips were pressed into a thin line, those words made him shudder with guilt but then he snapped out. "Damnit Blaise! I've cleansed your essence in the _awakening._ By pulling me out from that exorcism rite, you've just tainted yourself all over again!"

Blaise started humming angrily under his breath. "Someone had to save you and I'm the only one up to the job!" But then he paused, focusing on Draco's mismatched eyes and paid attention especially to his amethyst blue right eye.

"You shouldn't…" Draco started but froze when Blaise cracked his knuckles inches away from his face, shooting a pissed-off look at him. "I owe you." He squeaked, smirking nervously.

Blowing the silk blond blocks away from Draco's face, Blaise leaned closer. "So…that's how Luna's Lifespan Seal looks like, well…what's left of it anyway, but still _functional_. That part of her raw magic is the one that's been diminishing the true essence of your dark magic power all this time. Sorry to burst the bubble here mate but you'd achieved that same effect if you'd taken the Lifespan Seal of any witch or wizard less powerful than you…in other words…from almost anyone. This proves I was right all this time: Luna was _never _special, it's just a fluke of yours!"

Draco looked shocked and beyond annoyed at the same time. "How do you know all that?!"

"I perceive things different now. My senses and my magic have _evolved_ somehow. For example, that intervention of mine during the rite, it just came natural to me, as if I knew exactly what to do without even thinking." There was a twisted satisfaction in Blaise's voice, but then he smelled the air around Draco and said. "There's this scent all over you, it smells like…"

"It's nothing." Draco prompted. He then arched one eyebrow and smirked confidently. "I don't expect you to thank me but at least admit that you're enjoying yourself a bit too much."

"What you've done was immoral, unethical and against every single natural law!" Blaise leaned closer, cornering even more the blond against the wall, he looked enraged. "Don't you realize that actions and its ramifications ripple in a pond beyond your control?!"

"One who does not sacrifice anything cannot achieve anything." Draco's serene expression hid the pain and hurting that screamed through his mind. "You'd have done the same for me."

"Yes! I'd have done the _unthinkable_ in order to save your arse, but that's_ me_ talking! I never thought you were that bloody irrational. I never thought…" Blaise stopped, his heart slamming against his ribs in an erratic, dizzying beat.

"…that I'd be willing to _die_ for you? Blaise, you're my brother!" Draco was hyperventilating, his face red as a burning coal. "There's _nothing_ I wouldn't do for my family!"

For two or three heartbeats Blaise was perfectly still, his eyes locked on Draco's face, he seemed at a loss, but his recovery was quick. "Yeah, you're right and now that I'm here I'll take proper care of you, someone has to. You've completely neglected your health. For fuck sakes,_ look_ at you…"

"Next to you I'd always look like crap: you're the self-conceited one who'd always focused on following a freaking healthy life-style and all that." Draco teased, rolling his eyes dramatically and turned his face to the side, avoiding those pair of pitch-black judging eyes.

"Even after coming back from the grave, I still look more alive than you or maybe..." Blaise lifted one hand over his forehead, rubbing it nervously, he chuckled softly. "…maybe you just happened to look deader than me, placing you in a worse position than the one I'm in, if _possible_. This is so tragically ironic!"

"I see that nothing has changed, you still keep making jokes at my expense." Draco was starting to feel awkward with Blaise's closeness and his warm breathing all over his face. "You might be a couple of months older than me, but you're overreacting, _big_ brother."

"Overreacting?! You're so obsessed with death that you've completely forgot that you are the one who's _alive_! Open your eyes, will you? Draco, can't you see that you're killing yourself!? You are about six feet tall and are currently weighting what…a hundred and five pounds at the most? You look like shit, you're coming undone!" Blaise paused to fill his lungs with air, inspecting up-close Draco's clammingly sick pale complexion and accented bony features with a supremely worried look, but when he dropped his gaze to the blonde's crotch, his dark eyes widened. "Oh boy, you're definitely _coming._ No wonder that funny scent all over you. Your pheromones are triggering it non-stop: your whole body smells like sex!"

"_I've been __like this for the last six hours, damn turtle stew..."_ Draco looked completely pissed-off at first, but then he caught from the corner of his eye a shadow that past by the open door of the office, his facial features changed into calculating cold ones, sensing danger.

It seemed that Blaise had eyes on the back of his head for he noticed that too without having to look over his shoulder but he kept his eyes glued to the blond. "Fuck! I don't think my nostrils can take it any longer!"

Mentally rolling his eyes, Draco replied annoyingly. "Point taken, I stink."

"Quite the opposite, I've find your scent strongly appealing. The perfume of your skin is … yummy." Blaise paused; his lips were slightly parted as he suddenly grinned sinisterly. "This means that you're _happy _to see me?"

Draco's right amethyst-blue eye swelled but then dilated in full with the same fast rate, granting his gaze a flickering light. "I've missed you."

Blaise's face twisted in genuine surprise, he never thought such words would ever come from Draco's mouth, he was expecting the blond to reply something harsh and cold. Once the initial awkwardness had dissipated, Blaise's features hardened.

"What does it take to make you say something like that?!" As he talked, the adrenaline made a dangerous peak inside Blaise. "Oh…yes…I had to _die_!"

Before Draco had any chance to reply, Blaise snorted. "I like your outfit by the way. Black leather matches the dark shade circling your eyes and contrasts perfect with your unhealthy alabaster complexion." There was a dark hint of humor present in his voice, his eyes fastened on Draco's crotch the entire time. "It looks uncomfortably tight in there. Let me help you relieve the _pressure_."

Draco smirked coldly and buttoned his duster. "You've already tainted your magical essence by pulling me out from the exorcism rite, you want to say goodbye to your _virtue_ as well?" He asked with a tired scolding tone in his voice.

There was a flash of deep emotion in those black eyes, but he quickly masked it, yet not fast enough for Draco to notice.

Blaise felt the blush rise on his face as he followed Draco's pupils. "I might not be _experienced, _thanks for reminding me that,but I warn you: I'm a fast learner."

Draco's eyes darkened completely sensing Blaise's desperation. "Prove it."

Blaise opened and closed his mouth several times in failed attempts to reply, his face expressed the same need to do as to say something, without knowing what to do first. He buried his face in the crook of his strong arm. He had to bite down on his lip to keep from moaning.

"I know you want it…you and me…right here, right now…let's get our rocks off." Draco gasped smirking wolfishly as he silently drifted his gaze past Blaise's shoulder, making a mental note of the situation past the door in front of him.

Blaise could almost track the thoughts moving behind Draco's mismatched eyes. Both were ready to strike, wands in hand, maintaining the tension of their _game_ but something completely different was happening inside them. Draco didn't have a problem with his _act_, neither Blaise, or so it seemed. Not any single part of his body had touched Draco so far, but every pour in Blaise's skin was getting itchier by the second to break the barrier between the two, their noses were only an inch apart.

The blond twitched his pearl-grey eye, signaling his friend the position of the Death Eaters what were gathering behind the door, Blaise nodded and held his breath.

In perfect and eerie unison, both Slytherins ran towards the door, swinged around either ways, pivoting in the air and rolled onto the floor, casting the killing curses that got rid of the small group of Death Eaters stationed outside the door. By the time the duo rolled to the end of the hallway and got up, the place was carpeted with dead bodies.

Blaise's pitch-black eyes opened wide when he repaired on a glowing red halo – again those Dark Magic Seals of vengeance - floating above the corpses of another group of limp Death Eaters piled at the end of the continuing corridor. "Hey Draco, are you the one responsible for this?!"

"I wish!" Draco snorted with a tint of jealousy resting one hand on the back of his stiffed neck and the other against the wall for support. "But I'm relieved to know that whoever that wizard is, he's on our side."

"What makes you think it's a wizard and not a witch the one behind this? Besides what makes you think she's on _your_ side?" Blaise asked, and added with a mocking tone. "If she's getting rid of Death Eaters… you could be next on her list."

Draco's face lost all colors. He then looked up at Blaise and gulped soundly. "But you're on my side, right brother?" He asked, smirking pitifully.

Blaise paced fast across the hallway, narrowing their distance in four long strides until both were again nose-to-nose. "Yes, but things have changed. I'm a Malfoy. From now on I'd do things _my_ way." His voice was tense and low.

Draco's smirk dropped from his face, ranging from amused to disappointed immediately. "You don't want to be my right-hand man?"

"That's _not _what I've meant." Blaise's breathing was uneven and his face glistening with sweat, his eyelashes brushed briefly one of the blonde's cheeks as he leaned forward, whispering in his ear. "I'd accept whatever you're willing to offer but I'd also take what you've been denying me all this time."

And that was when everything backfired and what started out as a _game_ quickly down-spiraled into something out of control.

"It's a very dangerous thing to expose an addict to his addiction, but it's a Hell lot worse when that addict is beyond redemption and his addiction is within easy reach." Blaise was eating Draco with his eyes by then, his hot breath caressing the blonde's face as he spoke. "You've fucked up with the supernatural order without repairing on the consequences: don't be surprised if one these days you wake up all _sore_."

Draco froze, his blood drained completely from his face – and every other part of his body for that matter, erasing the last trace of the infamous turtle's stew effects in his system – as he took all in and the way Blaise had emphasized that last word pointedly. That had been a fair, powerful and direct warning or a burning promise and that was what bothered Draco, Blaise's surety.

"That will show you the cost of your ungodly actions…and of your ashen beauty." Blaise said that so convincingly that it was scary.

Draco's body stiffed, he started to perspire profusely, unable to blink or say a word as his face took a sickly shade of green. He looked into Blaise's eyes - he wasn't kidding - but then Draco noticed that something struck inside the black jet haired young man's mind.

Those pitch-black eyes fluttered for a moment, looked like he was deep in thought - or probably imagining something nasty inside his mind - but when a tear rolled down Blaise's cheek Draco realized that his brother was beyond hurt.

"I won't let you make fun of my feelings ever again." Blaise shuddered and took a couple of steps back, giving Draco a much needed space to catch his breath. "Apologize. NOW!" He demanded, raising the tone of his shaky voice.

Reluctantly and confused, Draco looked up and clenched one hand on his chest, forcing his lungs to take deep breaths. "You really got me there. For a moment I almost thought..."

"Don't underestimate me Draco: I've meant every fucking word!" Blaise said sharply and annoyed, without removing his enraged stare from the blonde's mismatched eyes.

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**A/N:**

///////////////////////////**REVIEWING IS FREE!!! TRY ONE, NO CHARGE!!!**////////////////////////////////

OH BOY! I HAD SUCH A LAUGH WRITING THIS CHAPTER! (YEAH I'M SICK [AND A LIL SLEEP DEPRIVED…TOO MUCH COFFEE] SO WHAT?) I KNOW...I KNOW…THERE'S A LOT TO EXPLAIN ABOUT BLAISE'S COMEBACK BUT… [SPOILER AHEAD!!!] DRACO + BLAISE: TOO MUCH SEXUAL TENSION!! RUN DRACO RUN!! YAY!!

Your brains might probably bombard you with a lot of questions after reading this chapter such as: If Blaise wasn't the one who's been casting all those Dark Magic Seals in the previous chapters…THEN WHO? And most important...is she/he friend or foe!? Is Blaise _really_ Blaise? Did he _actually_ die? Uhmmm…tricky… One thing that I'd answer right away: Why Blaise was dressed in white? Because those were the clothes he was dressed with in his Memorial (the ones that Draco then copy and used himself for some chaps before switching to the yummy leather black gear) remember that Blaise didn't want people to wear black in his funeral? Well, I do believe that white does suit Blaise, it highlights his handsome ebony skin and it also helps to mark a contrast between Draco. In the next chapters you'd find out that this "colors custom issue" actually denotes a psychological hint and not a fashion trend.

Confused? Don't freak out people! In the following chapter I'm going to explain _everything_. Well, that's my intention…whether if I pull if through or not is another thing so don't throw anything in front of your monitor and no spitting either, mmmmkay? Death Threats via PM & Flaming Reviews are ALWAYS welcomed!!! Woohooo!!

If you think that you're missing something and the plot is confusing you (it's a lenghty story), fire away your questions. It'd be a shame you've skipped something in the way and it'd help me realize that I must fix something to make the story flow better.

_**I've got a question of my own….did you miss Blaise?**_ I did! A lot actually and I've realized that I'm enjoying waaaaay too much when he's around and – believe it or not – despite this is a DM/LL fic the stats of the chapters in which Blaise appeared were the most read ones!?! You naughty little ones…you like when Blaise spice up things a little too much, don't ya? So… *evil & busy mind plotting* I'm going to give him a well deserved share of recognition in this story and this would make the plot even darker and angsty (I'm such a beitch!), yeah!

_***STRIDENT TRUMPET SOUND***_

_**THIS STORY WILL GROW EVEN LARGER THAN EXPECTED!!! SET FOR APROX 40 CHAPTERS IN TOTAL (SO 10 MORE CHAPTERS TO COME...MORE OR LESS) SO HUNG IN THERE, PLEASE I PROMISE YOU WON'T BE DISSAPOINTED!!**_

"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." (Shakespeare's Hamlet)

"Teachings that do not speak of pain have no meaning." (FMA)

"One who does not sacrifice anything cannot achieve anything." (FMA)


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N:**

_**!!!!WARNING!!!!**_

**MORAL, SEXUAL & RELIGIOUS TABOOS!!**

**BAD LANGUAGE, VIOLENCE, ABUSE, TORTURE & "SO CALLED" SEXUAL DEVIATIONS AHEAD…**

Many people would find a lil offensive the content of this chapter (the longest I've written so far) but the (PG18 rated) topics had been handled the best way possible to flow smoothly with the plot (that's probably why the chapter turned out to be that bloody lengthy).

I do believe when you finish reading this you'll understand why things turned out the way they did. I'm not excusing anyone here (don't want to panic you either...or maybe I do) but everything happens for a reason and sometimes when you don't pay attention to (or misread) the signs you get (most certainly) in deep trouble.

Once again there would be no story without Draco's & company mistakes, wrong turns, bad decisions, misunderstandings and faults.

Fasten your safety belts & drive carefully…this road is slippery when wet. (Pun intended!)

_///////////////////////////_**REVIEWING IS FREE!!! TRY ONE, NO CHARGE!!!**////////////////////////////////

**CHAPTER XXXI**

_"I want domination, I want your submission, I see you're not resisting to this temptation  
I've got one confession, a love deprivation, I've got a jet black heart  
It's all fucked up and it's falling apart…  
Whoa! I'll never give in. Whoa! I'll never give up. Whoa! I just wanna be, wanna be loved!_

_I've got another confession, I fell to temptation and there is no question  
There was some connection, I've got to follow my heart no matter how far  
I've gotta roll the dice, never look back and never think twice._

_Take your past and burn it up and let it go, carry on; I'm stronger than you'll ever know  
That's the deal; you get no respect, you're gonna get yours  
You better watch your fucking neck!"_

_(PAPA ROACH – "To Be Loved")_

Without a doubt the divination's classroom was the most eccentric yet comfortably furnitured and exquisitely aromatized room of Hogwarts. Draco was sited on the floor - over a thick furry carpet - with his long legs crossed in front of his body, his left leg in front of his right one. He got both arms on the tops of his knees, his palms up. As he counted his breathing in his meditative posture, he was trying to be the logical and calming voice of reason but it wasn't working with Blaise.

Despite that the anger had faded and looked like Blaise was about to consider what Draco had said, there was still a heavy reigning silence between them. Blaise's brows furrowed in confusion, he blinked once, he blinked twice...no good…confusion was still sizzling inside him.

Blaise finally stop pacing back and forth in front of the blond and took a deep breath, as if gathering his thoughts before replying. "For your sake, I hope I'm not understanding you."

Draco sighed soundly. "Truth is always sour, that's why is so hard to digest." His voice was flat and emotionless.

For a long heartbeat the jet black haired young man didn't say another word and let himself fall dispiritedly onto an armchair. "No rational person would be able to get what you're saying, but now that I do get your point I came to this conclusion: I'm mental."

"Madness is the _gift_ of the wise as ignorance is the _blessing_ of the fools." Draco said in a rather sarcastic and ironic tone this time.

"You not only _weighted_ the idea, you were _counting_ on not making it alive. If it weren't for Potter…you…you…" Blaise paused for air. He looked as if he was hyperventilating all of a sudden.

"I would have died, yes." Draco replied in a-matter-of-fact tone.

"Trading your life for mine, ending that bond of yours with Luna…and leaving a son without his father!" The mere thought of Draco's near death experience stabbed Blaise's heart right through, but he healed the ache with bitterness. "But… oh…right, you didn't know back then that Luna was pregnant…she was keeping it in _secret_! So typical of hers…"

The blond Slytherin remained silent, his face a well trained mask of soulless self-control, but inside his veins he felt his blood boiling.

Blaise hummed with anger and tilted his head back, closing briefly his eyes. The events of the short time he'd been absent washing over him, flickering brightly against his eyelids. "Hold a sec…you were expecting _me_ to take care of that nutcase with you _gone_?!"

Without opening his eyes, Draco let go a soft purr. "It's your duty. You're her brother-in-law."

Blaise got up immediately from his sit and stamped a foot on the floor, curling his hands into tight fists. "LIKE HELL!"

Draco looked at Blaise through his half-closed eyelids before adding. "Such _sacrifice_ is paid in full: you own a third of Malfoy's fortune."

"I've never been so humiliated in my life. Have you completely forgotten who are you talking with?!" Looking beyond pissed, Blaise's cheeks went red seconds before he exploded. "Shove your damn money up your arse where your head already is!"

"You're the one who's forgotten that you're no longer a Zabini." There was a tight smirk curling Draco's pale lips. "As you can see, being a Malfoy has it perks. Welcome to the family. A _growing _one, you have both the duty and the right to be my son's uncle."

Blaise frowned in deep thinking, as if ruminating something that was bothering him. "Luna, myself and Scorpius, our mere presence in this world has changed dramatically The Fates and what's written on the stars. For every change made, another one of an opposite nature would take place: for every life saved another one would eventually be lost."

Draco's voice was velvety soft, barely a hiss. "If my family was not meant to make it into this world then I'd change the way the world is, adjusting everything in it to fit accordingly to my purposes."

Blaise looked at Draco without blinking, he opened his mouth to speak but no words came out from it as he considered that to say next.

Pausing to inhale soundly, Draco added. "I wasn't supposed to make it alive either but you've saved my life countless times already. You knew something was going to happen to me and you prevented it. You're saying that you regret it?"

"OF COURSE NOT!" Blaise roared making his point clear. "What I'm saying is that by preventing things from happening we're giving way for bad omens to take it out on us!"

Draco opened slowly his eyes, arching an accomplished eyebrow while caressing with his fingertips the Swastika medallion that hanged from his neck. "We've got an advantage no-one else has."

"Right, Scorpius has the vision of it all and is moving the pieces at convenience." Blaise coughed nervously, clearing his throat. "What you don't understand is that with the constant changes in the course of natural events even your son's existence could be jeopardized."

"You don't know my son the way I do." Draco sneered, looking proud. "Scorpius has an acute survival instinct and because he's still unborn, his magic and strenght have no limit."

Blaise was starting to feel incredible uneasy. "Having that kind of power is dangerous."

"He's the dangerous kind: no-one stands a chance against him when he's determined." There was a low and tense tone in Draco's voice; it got more accented when he repeated. "No-one."

But Draco's pearl-gray left eye was telling Blaise far more than the words he'd spoken. A lethal blend of ice and fire traveled through Blaise's body, his expression tightened.

As he tilted his head to the sides, relaxing his stiffed neck, Draco broke the uncomfortable silence between them. "Anyway…by taking or saving a life we're all changing the course of natural events with equal force and effect. It doesn't matter who's wrong or right anymore…or who's in possession of a Time Turner."

Blaise started coughing despite himself, looked like he'd forgotten to breathe first before exhaling. "There's a reason why some actions weight heavier than others."

Draco managed a tight smirk. "I've never regret what I've done. What kind of person does _that_ make me?"

Squeezing shut his eyes, Blaise hissed. "Unique."

"Everyone in this world is unique and unrepeatable." Draco's voice sound foreign - as if quoting someone else's words - he then turned his head slowly, following a clockwise motion before exhaling soundly. "Such made-up lie was meant to excuse the existence of our imperfections."

"Whatever is that you're doing it won't help you find Luna." The jet black haired young man tilted his head to a side, getting impatient. "This is a complete waste of your time and it makes you look utterly stupid."

"It's helping_ me_. I _need_ this to focus properly my inner flow." Draco didn't move an inch from where he was sited; it looked like he was way too deep in his meditation.

Raising both eyebrows, Blaise offered with a wicked grin. "I can recommend you a better way to psyche you up. It never fails."

The blond Slytherin's face looked like carved in stone. "No."

"I feel my head about to explode just by thinking about that stupid nutcase." Blaise pinched the bridge of his nose, willing a piling headache away. "If she weren't pregnant with your son I'd have taken your sorry arse as far away from here in a blink of an eye, leaving that wife of yours for dead. But we're stuck in this wild-goose chase instead!"

Those words had pushed Draco's patience on the narrow edge again, jeopardizing completely his relaxing exercise. "You don't have to be here. You can perfectly go to the Chateau and do whatever you please: it's your home now…one of many."

"I'm taking over your bedroom." Blaise said bluntly.

Draco made a tight nod, his voice toneless. "Fine, it's yours. There are hundreds of other rooms for me and Luna."

Blaise shook his head, grinning darkly. "I want everything that room implies with the exception of a certain dirty blond nutcase of course."

"Brother…" Draco dragged that word emitting a short, rasping cough.

Changing abruptly the subject, the other wondered. "I can't remember where I was before waking up but I know _something_ was there, waiting for me."

Draco narrowed his eyes, shooting Blaise a serious look. "_I _was the one waiting for you." He then added with an anguished voice. "I'd never give up on you."

"God does exist and when we die, no matter if we're sinners and don't deserve to aspire to salvation, he still has to appear in front of us…at least to point his thumbs down as we descend into Hell...it's not much to ask…we all have the right to see him someday…there _is_ a God." Blaise mumbled mostly to himself.

Brushing carefully his hands over his black snake leather duster Draco lifted himself from the floor slowly, taking his brother in inch by inch, giving him a mysterious half smirk. "No, there is not but people would always find a way to invent him. A God who is the source of morality and human values does not exist since the evidence shows that people define morals and values for themselves. But if by _God_ one means the set of physical laws that govern the universe then clearly there is such a God but it does not make much sense to pray to the law of gravity, don't you think?"

Blaise opened and closed his mouth with a snap but then he raised his arms in a wide gesticulation of annoyance. "Dammit Draco, you broke a taboo: you brought me back from the dead!"

The blond Slytherin walked a few steps, halting right in front of Blaise. "When someone dies, the soul leaves the body…and there's no turning back. But in your case the link between the two was never broken, that's why you could wake up, proving that you were not dead but in a condition of deepest lethargy. It was your spirit - the one that keeps the soul and body together – that drifted away for a moment. In a deep sleep, the spirit is totally separated from the soul. Upon awakening, it cannot remember anything of the dream because the spirit cannot take on any sense impressions, either internally or externally. That's why you can't remember what happened after you passed out at the Astronomy Tower and woke up in the Cemetery Field. The only thing I did was to _cleanse _your essence. I did _not _bring you back from the dead."

"You're saying that to make things more bearable to both of us or because you're afraid to acknowledge what you've done or maybe because you refuse to admit that I've become a _freak_ now?!" Blaise's voice was pitched somewhere between an anguished scream and a roar.

Draco's gut twisted, seeing the trauma that threatened to crash against his brother's psyche and at once it filled him with a profound sense of remorse but then he started to grow restless.

"If I could turn back time…" Draco smirked evilly, there was an eerie light flashing on his pearl-gray left eye. "I'd do the _exact_ same thing. I'm not afraid of facing Hell in the after-life for the things I've done. I dare say one of these days I'd get a restraining order from the devil himself. He must be sick and tired of watching me coming and going of his infernal nest these last seventeen years."

"You'll pay for what you've done, that's for sure. You've got yourself in pretty deep shit by playing God!" Blaise grabbed his head with both hands, murmuring something inaudible before punching the wall with both tight fists.

"What an obsession of yours by taking it out on the walls." There was a deep frown of concern on Draco's temple. "You'd probably want to beat the Hell out of me right now. If it makes you feel better, I'll take your first punch for free, the next ones are going to cost you but this is your chance to purge your hatred towards me. You'd better accept my offer so we can settle things between us for good and move forward."

Blaise sighed deeply and soundly, forcing to close his eyes for a brief moment before replying. "Idiot. I could never_ ever _hate you, not even after what you've done. I do believe you're convinced that I was _asleep_ all this time and that's what worries me the most. You're loosing perspective but that's understandable: anyone in your shoes would have lost his mind by now."

"I haven't _lost _anything. I've just happened to give away some things, so what?" Draco then laughed out loud, waving carelessly both hands in the air.

Blaise was hypnotized by the unfamiliar sound that was filling his ears. It was, Blaise realized, the first time he'd ever heard Draco laugh and that awoke a funny sensation inside him.

"_No, not you Draco. Please, get ahold of yourself." _He felt his gut twisting. Draco's hysterical laughter frightened and astonished him.

Dropping his hands to the sides of his body, in a clear sign of resignation, Blaise realized that Draco had brought himself into an illusionary world full of self denial. Deprived of rest and health, mentally debilitated, the blond Slytherin had become emotional and mentally imbalanced.

Draco rubbed nervously his forehead with a shaking pulse before turning to face him. "It's my life and, leaving aside the fact if I'm proud or not for the things I've done, I can assure you one thing: I've got no regrets."

Blaise's throat tightened. "Once the Ministry of Magic finds out that I'm alive they'd lock me up in a cell to study and when they connect the dots that lead to you, they'll hunt you down. For fuck sakes, you can even end up in Azkaban!"

Draco sneered sourly. "Money talks…silencing people. In the remote case I can't bribe the Ministry, I'll blackmail it. Some people _owe _me, people with influences."

"People with _influences_?" Blaise repeated and narrowed his pitch-black eyes, questioning, his strong muscled arms crossed in front of him.

"Fudge and Umbridge, both of them owe me their lives. I've warned them that I'd collect their debts next time I saw them." Draco couldn't stop those dark sparks of amusement from spreading through his eyes. "I _always_ get my own way, so there's nothing to worry about. I've promised I'd protect you, haven't I?"

The blond reached out an arm to tap his brother's shoulder in a reassuring gesture but Blaise backed up a step, terrified. "Don't."

Draco opened wide his eyes, at first he looked shocked and even perplexed but then he managed a cold amusing sneer. "You're _afraid_ of me?"

"The reason why I've been avoiding touching you all this time is because I'm protecting you from myself." Blaise swallowed hard and noticing Draco's mocking expression, he added. "I'm getting used to have my five senses back along with my magic and it's all too much for me to handle because the way I perceive things is _way_ too strong. I thought I was going to feel nothing at all, like an empty shell, but instead things are getting awfully _deep_."

"It was not until recently that I could make proper use of everything I've been trained for and that's because of the Inferae's pact." Draco's left pearl-gray eye swelled a little, examining Blaise keenly. "You're reacting to my blood, experiencing the Ghoul's powers. Now you know what it's like to be me. Your strength, speed, endurance, agility…all your biological processes augmented along with your biological needs and that makes you feel that you're walking directly on the edge of a deadly fall. All it takes is a little dose from your drug of choice to lose balance."

Looking up, Blaise locked his pitch-black eyes to Draco's mismatched gems and asked. "Is Luna your downfall?"

Draco let go a snort-like sound when he emptied the air in his lungs all of a sudden. "There's no doubt that the feelings she arouses in me are my doom." He paused; his facial complexion went clammingly pale. "What can push me to a point of no return it's not the weakness of my heart but my magic's true source of power: my darkness."

Blaise was starting to perspire profoundly. "What were you expecting to happen when you tried to exorcize yourself?"

"I just wanted the confusion to stop. Whatever was the final outcome, I was counting on finding the answers but they're still out of my reach." Squeezing his eyes shut, Draco forced his next words. "All I see in front of me are shadows."

"That's because your magic is unbalanced, your essence is incomplete." Blaise bit his lip and looked down, cursing himself for saying those words out loud without thinking.

"A half-truth is the most cowardly of lies. What is it that you're holding back?" Draco demanded to know, there was an uncomfortable tension in his voice.

Blaise's pitch-black eyes denoted a blazing red light of repressed anger. "You also look at what's convenient and ignore everything else! But unlike you, I'm trying my best to decipher the meaning of what's constantly bombarding my head, okay?!"

Narrowing his gaze, Draco took a couple of steps closer, stopping mere inches from where Blaise was standing.

"SHIT! Don't come any closer!" Utterly neurotic, Blaise's voice cracked completely. "I'm terrified of what can happen if you, among all people, touch me. Knowing myself the way I do, there's a great chance I might end up doing something unforgivable."

"This frenzy feeling that is haunting you, the one that drove you to extremes of anger and desire when you confronted me earlier, is many times worse than those compulsions suffered by a regular human-being. The more instinctive a craving is, the more dangerous it becomes for our kind, turning those feelings into something emotionally traumatic." Draco paused and looked up, his eyes darkened. "In order to move forward you've got to confront your fears and there's only one way to do this."

Draco grabbed him by his forearm, dragging Blaise forward and hugged him.

Blaise's body tensed immediately. "This is suicidal. Let go."

"As a Malfoy you'd have to endure countless tests and pass them all. Prove not only to me but also to yourself that you're strong." The blond replied with a harsh tone in his voice.

Blaise buried his head over one of Draco's bony shoulders, unable to stop shaking. "I'm _so _going to fail it."

"No, you won't. I've got faith in you, brother." Draco replied padding the top of Blaise's head in an almost parental gesture.

It was evident that Blaise was fighting with all his might to be in control of his own body and emotions, restraining his basic instincts from reaching the surface but he lost the battle way too fast.

Trapping Draco's chin with one hand, Blaise dragged the blonde's head forward and spoke accusingly one inch apart from his lips. "You cruel and soulless bastard! Do you know how difficult it is for me to resist your touch?! Why do you keep teasing me like that?!"

Snaking his other arm around Draco's slim waist, Blaise forcefully pulled the blond to him, slamming that skinny body against his broad chest. "You brought this on yourself! Now that all those binding and restraining spells you and Luna shared had been destroyed by Lucius you're free for the taking. There's _nothing_ that would prevent me from making you mine this time. I want you to listen carefully to what I'd like to do to you and how I want to fuck you."

Despite his movement had been firm and deliberate, Blaise had been forceful without causing harm to Draco, not yet.

Draco felt a terrifying ice-cold crawl trimming the mobility of his body while, on the other hand, Blaise's body was literally burning. The heat that came from Blaise was getting more and more intense by the minute warming also the air around him, it seemed to be also draining Draco's strength in the process.

Blaise held Draco there firmly with a hand holding his neck in place, restraining it while he procured maintaining eye contact at all time. "I'm going to kiss and lick every inch of your skin, sucking you dry as I get completely drunk with your scent and juices and prepare you to climb the highest of heights. I'll push myself inside you, exploring you deeply until I hit the spot that'll make you lose it all, experiencing in the flesh the true meaning of ecstasy. I'll make you cry my name out until your voice gets numb as you and I come over and over again, our bodies moving in unison to the compass of our pants and moans of sweet pain and raw pleasure."

Draco was feeling strangely dizzy by then, his mind drifted in-and-out of consciousness, half-listening to what Blaise was saying. His mouth was salivating profusely and a building heartburn made him want to retch.

"There's not enough air…to breathe…" Draco's pale lips barely moved and his voice came with a weak pleading hiss.

"Yes, that's it, _beg_!" Blaise blew some silk blocks away from Draco's pale face, his heart pounding faster as his pitch-black eyes traveled the velvety smooth complexion of the blond.

"You're going to beg for me to give you more and I'll comply, I'll fulfill each and every single one of yours and my needs. I'll fuck you until both our bodies give out from exhaustion and we can't move anymore."

A needles-and-pins sensation started to numb Draco's body, he rolled his eyes, trying to keep them open, but that only managed to get him dizzier.

Blaise steadied the blonde with a choke-hold embrace, his voice then turned husky and low. "I'm going to make you mine in every single way possible. I'll fuck your body, I'll fuck your mind, I'll fuck your _everything._ We're going to live our moment together as if were our last. I won't share you with _anyone_. The past is history, your present and future belongs to me now. From this moment on, you are _mine_."

With a lighting fast move, Draco freed one arm to stop Blaise from getting to the zip of his leather pants but - as if anticipating that exact defensive reaction from the blond - Blaise ringed Draco's wrist with his hand.

"Pleasure and pain are interlinked in the labyrinth of the human psyche." Blaise paused and twisted Draco's wrist it until a bone cracked. "But pain can be more immediate than pleasure."

The blond Slytherin hissed a breath of pain despite himself.

Kicking the door in front of him open, Blaise tightened his grip around Draco's waist and lifted him up, carrying the blond inside a small and hermetic place that pretty much resembled and unused, empty storage room.

Draco's vision began to dim, he blinked a few times but it only got worse. Taking advantage of the situation, Blaise slammed Draco against the wall and his broad chest, ringed with his hands both wrists high above Draco's head and settled his hips between the blonde's tights. He then started licking the side of one of Draco's cheeks as his tongue made its way down to the blonde's neck and devoured it with blood-thirsty kisses, leaving a trail of dark-bluish hickeys on Draco's ivory pale skin.

Blaise grinded himself against Draco's crotch, the hot friction sent electric impulses running all over the body of the jet black haired Slytherin. Smiling wickedly as Draco's face transfigurated itself with unmistakable fear Blaise asked with a low, lusty dripping voice. "Who's afraid of whom now?"

Draco was seeing blurry and unfocused but he could feel Blaise's hot and fast paced breathing all over him. When Blaise aimed to kiss him on the mouth, Draco's lips compressed into a thin line and spun his head sharply to a side. Blaise didn't seem to care and started nibbling the blonde's earlobe instead.

"I know you can take the pain but I'd be gentle, you're going to love it." Blaise whispered into his ear, his voice was rough. He then pressed his hard-rock erection against the blonde's hips and added with a growl. "Feel it, soon it's going to be inside you, filling you."

Draco refused to look up into those pitch-black eyes. He didn't want to give Blaise more power or control than he already had.

"I fought _for_ you once. This time is no different. I'll save you again, even if that means I have to fight _against_ you." Draco replied with forced calmness despite the fact he was already light-headed.

"Come on! It'd be twice as orgasmic if you just relax and work this out with me." He brushed Draco's index finger over his lips before placing it inside his mouth, sucking it deviously slowly.

The blond Slytherin finally looked up; determination flashing on those mismatched eyes. "The chances of your breaking me are the same as the ones of mine killing you."

"Don't get me wrong, I never meant to wound your manliness." The jet black haired Slytherin let go an amusing laugh. "Your ashen beauty won't make me forget that you're a whole lot of a man yourself!"

"Wanna switch places?" Blaise then grabbed Draco's hand tightly by his broken wrist and rubbed the blonde's open palm against his muscled arse. "Go ahead, fuck me."

Breathing faster, barely containing his excitement, Blaise leaned closer and pressed his sweaty forehead against Draco's temple. "Show me how you like to do it, take me however you want. You want to fuck me hard and merciless? Bring it on! Break me like the testosterone-pumped heartless monster I know you are." His tongue brushing softly Draco's tight-lipped mouth as his voice started to trim into a painful, almost pleading, moaning. "If you don't fuck me now I'll claim your arse for myself. Hurry up, time's ticking."

Both were eye-to-eye and nose-to-nose, Draco smirked mercilessly, his pearl-gray eye twitched. "Consider yourself fucked."

With two piercing fingers of his free hand Draco struck a pressure point on the back of one of Blaise's muscled forearms – numbing momentarily the nerves of the arm - and squeezed his skinny body from the trap of such tight embrace, but with his diminishing energy he tripped easily when Blaise placed his foot and forced the blond to land sideways on the floor.

Visibly pissed off, Draco shoot up in a sitting position and sent a foot right into Blaise's crotch. "You've asked for it!"

Blaise cupped his sore manhood and backed up a couple of steps. Forcing himself to cling onto consciousness, Draco shook his head twice. With a clockwise turn he relieved the pressure of his injured wrist and regrouped himself.

Without waiting for the pain in his crotch to subside Blaise rested both hands on the frame of the small room's only entrance, blocking it, lifting his arms up to the height of his shoulders in a crucified pose. "Just make sure I actually _die_ this time so I can't come back one night while you're sleeping and fuck your bony arse senseless, okay?"

Draco tightened the grip of his wand with his other hand for a few more seconds - until he regained his sense of balance - before pocketing it back inside his duster and lifted himself painfully from the floor. "Your failing the test should be punishment enough."

Smiling sadly, knowingly, the other shot back. "You can't bring yourself to kill me, not _yet _at least, I saw it reflected in your eyes, but you've also read the truth in mine. I won't stop until, willingly or not, you give in to me. Judging by your actual condition I've just proved that I'm stronger, breaking you would be easy."

Something flickered behind those mismatched eyes of Draco granting an intense emotion to his gaze. "When will you understand that strength does not come from physical capacity? It comes from an indomitable will!"

Blaise looked lost for a fraction of second, like he was ransacking his mind for something to stay grounded, but to no avail. "Draco, this is who I am! If you despise that much the idea of submitting yourself to me then gather enough guts to cast the killing curse on me! I'd always be a threat to you! End your fucking nightmare once and for all! DO ME A FAVOR WILL YOU? KILL ME!"

By then Draco's eyes were blazing dark red. "I've already told you that I'd _never_ give up on you!"

"WHY?! Blaise demanded to know getting exasperated. "Why the hell did you bring me back for? What _use_ am I to you?!"

Draco's pearl-gray eye started twitching, his fists already clenched on the sides of his body. "After everything we've been through how _dare_ you ask me that?!"

"Bollocks! If you refuse to kill me then I'd do it myself. I can't live like this." Blaise sentenced with such determination and conviction that struck the blonde's guts, making him snap out completely.

Draco walked resolute towards him and grabbed Blaise by the collar of his t-shirt, shaking him violently. "I've given you my blood, embracing you as my brother and equal! What else do I have to do to make you understand how important you're to me?!"

Reading those mismatched eyes, Blaise lifted his arms up in the air, surrendering. "So you don't know? Not even have the slightest clue why your son tried so hard to make sure that I'd make it alive? Let me tell you something: you two saved me only to prove yourselves that you could, that you're better than Gods! Like father, like son! You know what? Do whatever you please with me. My feelings and sayings in the matter are of no importance to you, they never were. You've already made it clear when you brought me back: you didn't stop a minute to think what would happen after that! You can take from me anything you want but if I try to do the same to you…you won't let me do it…am I right?"

Chocking with his own ragged, hysterical breathing, Draco spitted out. "You're implying that if I don't let you fuck me is because I don't _care_ about you?! Who's using who here?! Answer me, dammit!"

"I'm guilty of charge, yes! I want you…I want to fuck you _so_ badly! God knows I'd give _anything _to make you mine!" Blaise felt his face burning with anger but he was also teary-eyed. "I might have outbeaten death but I feel so fucking empty inside. I want you to give in once and for all and make my heart beat again!"

"Can't deny you take after your mother..." Without releasing the grip from Blaise's collar, Draco pinned him against the wall and fixed his enraged gaze on those glassy ink-black eyes in front of him. "You're a remarkable devious, unscrupulous, cunning mastermind, just like Clarissa!"

Blaise chuckled venomously. "Don't fool yourself Draco, you and me are two drops of water. You won't accept the fact that when you look at me, you're faced up against your own faults and wrongdoings."

Draco's heart missed a beat, Blaise was right._ "You can't change a person without destroying who he was before."_

Releasing the grip on Blaise's t-shirt, Draco back up some steps, his face went clammingly pale and still._ "Luna confessed that in order to be with me, she'd have to give up the way she is and that would end up destroying her."_

Lifting his sore mismatched eyes from the floor, Draco mumbled mostly to himself. "I'd never be what others expect from me. I'm not the man Luna needs, I'm not the partner you want me to be, I'm not the son my father expected…I couldn't even protect my own mother! I wanted to befriend with Potter but he looked down on me. I've been marked as a Death Eater but I feel more like a stray animal instead. I know all the things I'm _not_…so what am I then?" He asked staring at his empty hands.

Almost out of breath, his face redden, Blaise started yelling. "I thought this time you'd make the right choice but you're still too blind to see what's in front of your own nose! You still prefer a woman who doesn't trust you, who ran away because she's doesn't even take the time to get to know you, who'd die for Potter but not for you…a woman who'd always kept secrets: first about her illness, then about the fact that she was pregnant with you heir! Who knows what other vital facts would she hide from you in the future? Can't you see that she doesn't even_ love_ you?! How could you possibly still chose _her_ over _me_?!" Blaise's vision field became foggy and a pounding headache threatened to split his head in half. "What did I do wrong?! Why am I not good enough for you?! WHY WON'T YOU LET ME LOVE YOU?!"

In a micro-second Draco's pupils swelled and a blind hot pain punctured straight right through his heart, forcing it to stop beating altogether. He couldn't bring his lungs to take air, as if his body just froze in shock. Draco clenched from his chest instinctively before his eyes rolled to the back of his head. The pain was so raw and heavy that it trimmed the last bit of strength inside him and he blacked-out.

Before his body could hit the ground, Blaise wrapped both arms around the blond in a tight embrace, landing over one of the thick furry carpets. "Draco?! Come back to me! Wake up!"

"_Shit, this is all my fault!"_ Blaise closed his eyes shut in a desperate attempt to hold back the tears and that's when flashes of images and sounds from Draco's memories - from the most traumatic ones to the more blissful ones - began to speed like the shifting patterns in a kaleidoscope inside him.

Pausing in one memory in particular, Blaise dug deeper:

"_I know Blaise since childhood, while growing up, we identified in each other the same way of thinking and of seeing and appraising dangers and principles. But he had one flaw, and that was to rely on his instincts. He believed blindly in me and granted me his complete trust, something no-one would ever be able to do whether they claim to know me…why should they? Sometimes Blaise questioned me, but he never judged me. I've tried to do the same, but I've failed many times in this pursue. That's exactly what makes him better than me, that's why I look up to him the way I do. Blaise Zabini is a man of an enviable free spirit. He is an __absolutely trustworthy and wise__ friend. He is the brother I always wished for."_

Blaise felt a bit dizzy with the amount of information he'd recollected from Draco but he was also deeply moved. The moment he opened his eyes and ducked his head, he saw that Draco was soundly asleep. The blond was cuddled against Blaise's muscled torso – using it as improvised pillow - and he was breathing slowly and deeply.

Those pitch-black eyes made a complete scan of the immediate area but he sensed no immediate danger. Nevertheless, Blaise wrapped one arm tighter around the skinny blonde's upper body - slowly rocking Draco back-and-forth - and cast a protection spell around them, just in case.

Blaise smiled to himself. _"Hope your dreams are as pleasant as the joy I feel at having you wrapped in my arms, watching you sleep."_

The jet black haired Slytherin then repaired on the swift movement behind Draco's eyelids: it seemed that the blond was indeed dreaming. Draco's lips were slightly open, pressed against the soft fabric of Blaise's immaculate white t-shirt. He was mumbling something barely audible and from the soft curve arching his pale lips, whatever he was dreaming it wasn't a nightmare.

Without opening his eyes, Draco shifted position in his sleep and rested his head on the curve of Blaise's neck, facing him. Draco's warm breathing against his earlobe started to melt Blaise's body as if it were made of butter.

"Stop teasing." Blaise complained under his breath.

The quiet and silent atmosphere of the empty classroom was soon disrupted with the sound of a stomach's growling. Unlike Blaise's butterfly filled stomach, Draco's was empty.

Blaise bit his lower lip and hissed softly against Draco's cheek. "I'm hungry too and you're such a yummy treat."

Blaise had one arm wrapped protectively – possessively - around the blond, pressing Draco against his compact torso. Worming his free hand underneath the blonde's shirt Blaise's fingertips started teasing above the waistband of his leather pants. Draco's body was slowly reacting positively to Blaise's stimulation.

Blaise's lips parted slightly before taking a long, ragged breath. _"If I don't do this now I'd regret it the rest of my life." _

Welcoming the blonde's low guard, Blaise pushed things a little further and slide his hand inside Draco's pants. Once he trespassed the thin cotton barrier of the blonde's briefs, Blaise circled Draco's sleepy manhood with his long fingers. He then started stocking its length up and down, applying a carefully studied pressure to make things more pleasant but also securing a slow awakening of Draco's body without interrupting the blonde's profound sleep.

Blaise bent his head, his low voice caressed Draco's ear. "I don't want to just fuck you, that'll be too easy. What I truly want is to control your body and your lust. I want to own that tempting arse of yours and I want you to admit that it's mine and mine alone to fuck however I please. I'll take all the time I need to help you understand and accept my needs as well as your own so that you won't run away from me because only I can give you what you want, what you need."

With each stroke, the blond was getting harder, bigger and thicker under Blaise's touch. Surprisingly, Blaise's unattended manhood was throbbing with the same aching effect. The blood raced through his veins as Blaise attempted to make sense of the powerful feelings racing through his body and his mind. A moan of pleasure escaped in unison between both Blaise's and Draco's half closed lips.

Blaise chuckled darkly to himself. _"I'm the one giving you a handjob yet my body feels as if I were jerking myself off. I don't know how but the more I touch you, the better the synchronicity between our bodies gets, must be because of our blood bond. This feels amazing… you feel incredibly good." _

In the angle Draco's head was resting against Blaise's torso, the jet black haired Slytherin couldn't quite kiss the blond in the mouth without moving him – risking the fact that Draco might awake from his sound sleep – so he pressed a feverish kiss on the curve of Draco's mouth and sunk his sweaty forehead against one of Draco's bony shoulderblades.

Pressing his chest hermetically against Draco's back, Blaise gained a better position and started moving his wrist with more ease procuring long, hard, fast and deep strokes. Draco then moaned again, but this time it was closer to a whine. Blaise welcomed the heavenly music that was filling his ears and applied even more pressure to the devious and infamous massage circling Draco's dripping hard-rock length.

After trailing a row of kisses on the back of Draco's neck, Blaise whispered with a hoarse voice. "I bet you want me to plunge myself as deep and as hard in your tight arse as I can. You want me to slam myself inside you and master you with the brutality of a fucking so lustful that you would find impossible to leave me because I'm the only one who can give that to you, don't you?"

Draco's strangled moans were echoing in Blaise's head, throbbing in his manhood. Blaise was incredible turned on and hot and so damn ready for anything. The longer he kept dominating Draco, balancing the blond on the very edge of those painful and arousing sensations rippling through his body, the more Blaise got enslaved as well with the need to be the only one who could pleasured Draco the way he did. With his mouth open and his eyes closed, Draco looked as if he were in heaven.

Desire and need mixed with stronger emotions burned Blaise's heart to the very core the moment he repaired on Draco's face._ "One of these days I'll brand you as mine, I'll own you in body and soul and everybody would know that you belong only to me."_

Blaise was aiming towards the edge of orgasm; he then squeezed his eyes shut. He knew that if he were to continue with that pace, both him and Draco weren't going to take much more to pop.

Resting his cheek against Draco's temple, Blaise speeded up the rhythm - pumping the blonde's flesh to the limit – and licked the blonde's ear. "Remember this as I make you cum: you're mine, for the rest of your life...and beyond it too because you'll spend eternity by my side."

Draco then started murmuring some fainting words that Blaise couldn't quite make out over the rushing of blood in his own ears.

Tilting his head up with pleasure so intense it bordered on pain, Blaise clamped his teeth and let go a strangled grunt, hugging the blond possessively as he came hard, literally exploding. "Holy shit, Draco!"

Seconds later, as if triggered by his brother's orgasm, Draco jerked his body in his sleep against Blaise's torso and let go a soundly low whimper the moment he'd climaxed, sending a hot, volcanic rush in his release. "Lhummmna…"

Blaise felt the stinging burn of jealousy getting the best of him; a hateful frown wrinkled his sweaty forehead. _"I don't care how long it takes for you to give in, I'm going to make you my lover and you'll learn to voice your sexual release calling out my name."_

After some more playful soothing strokes – too greedy to let go - Blaise removed slowly his hand coated with Draco's hot seed and curled his tongue around his fingers, sucking them one by one, tasking that bitter, salty flavor.

"_You taste as exquisite as the scent of your skin, giving you blowjobs would be a feast."_ Blaise concluded to himself with a wicked smirk and cast a cleansing spell on both, getting rid of all evidence.

Moment's later Draco shifted position in his sleep and pressed his lips together, rubbing his face against Blaise's torso – in a typical morning-like fashion – as if it were indeed a pillow before opening lazily his mismatched eyes.

"Hey, Draco..." Blaise called softly and waved a hand in front of those sleepy eyes to call his attention, trying not to startle the blond. "You've passed out."

Freaking out, Draco pulled away from those strong arms and landed on his butt over one of the many small cushions displayed on a corner of the room. He then started rubbing both hands over his chest, inspecting his clothes with a terrified look.

"What's the matter…are you sore?" Blaise asked fueling Draco's fears.

Swallowing soundly, the blond shook his head with a silent "no".

Arching one eyebrow, the other said venomously. "See? I told you I was going to be gentle."

Draco rubbed his eyes with both hands and blinked hard several times to bring himself back to reality. "Piss off."

The pitch-black darkness on Blaise's eyes was hypnotic. "I wasn't joking, not everything I say is intended for my amusement."

Firmly believing that Blaise was pulling his leg – he was still very sleepy to read the truth in Blaise's eyes - Draco yawned soundly. "You've got a unique talent of getting on my nerves _really_ quick."

After a sound sigh, Blaise shrugged innocently. "Like I've said before, I've been gentle: I held you in my arms while you were sleeping like a log. Look, I've warned you about what would happen if you touched me, haven't I? Anyway, I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you."

"It healed remarkably fast, see?" Draco made a clockwise turn his left hand's wrist before giving him the finger as if saying _I dare you to suck that one now_.

"_For fuck sakes, I've provoked him a heart-attack earlier and he's talking about his damn wrist?!"_ Squeezing his eyes shut, the jet black haired Slytherin started to feel extremely uneasy and beyond guilty. "I'm sorry, I really am."

"You apologize _way_ too much." Draco got up and stretched lazily his back, letting go a soft purr.

"Sorry, it's just that...haven't you realized that I've almost…" His voice trailed away and he looked down, but not before Draco saw Blaise's eyes fill with tears._ "I've almost killed you!"_

"You either do or you don't! Apologies lack of meaning because actions cannot be undone!" Taking a deep, sound breath, Draco added with a more relaxed tone in his voice. "You're a Malfoy: you don't apologize to anyone for anything, not even to me."

"I can't look at you in the eye without feeling like a worthless piece of shit. I so deserve to die crushed like a slug!" Blaise hunched forward and started hitting his head against an oak tea table.

"ENOUGH!" Draco startled Blaise with a whip-like shout. "Dammit Blaise! How many times do I have to repeat myself?"

Blaise pressed tight his trembling lips and raised his blood-shot eyes to meet the blonde's gaze that was glaring in maniacal fury.

There was a vein throbbing on Draco's temple. "We're equals! Whenever you're looking down on you, you're looking down on me too!"

Swallowing hard, pushing down the lump on his throat, Blaise nodded in silence.

Offering him a hand, Draco smirked tightly. "Get up, will you?"

Blaise squeezed Draco's hand, lifting himself slowly from the floor, still unable to look up to meet Draco's gaze.

"What the Hell just happened? I mean, you've fallen asleep in my arms. How did it felt like for you when I held you while you were sleeping?" Blaise felt his face burning but he didn't care.

Shaking his head twice, somewhat reluctant to provide an answer, Draco shot back. "Brother, at this time present, you're insulting us both by asking me that. You're expecting me to verbalize my answer, you're still too attached with words, allow the answers to exist where words are not there."

Blaise let go a high-pitch cry. "What?!"

Draco twisted his head around until his neck popped. "It's true that we need words to communicate but we also use silences between those words, you have to be aware of those silences, because words might be used to communicate, but when you center your attention on those gaps that's when you are able to transcend into a mutual communion."

Blaise stared at Draco in silence, studying him as the blonde's thoughts come crashing into his mind._"It was refreshing and comforting, just like when waking up after spending a good night's sleep. __It felt even better than the night I performed that Necromancy Rite and woke up after passing out."_

Blaise's cheeks blushed with a vivid tint of red remembering the night before the incident at the Astronomy's Tower and how peaceful Draco looked while sleeping all wrapped up in his arms. It'd been the happiest moment he'd experienced and now he'd just added a second most treasured memory to the list…definitely a better one.

Draco arched one accomplished eyebrow. "Your magic is more powerful now, partly thanks to my blood but also because of your _awakening_. That doesn't mean you're a _freak_, on the contrary, that makes the empathy in you stand out more than ever."

"_Bloody Hell!? I wanted to fuck him at all cost and managed to break his wrist in the process. I__'ve provoked him a heart attack that almost killed him. Then I've ravaged his mind and jerked him off in his sleep and now he's talking about empathy?!" _Blaise looked at Draco as if questioning silently if the blond had lost his sanity for good. "Oh man, you're unbelievable!"

"You keep saving me…over and over… AND OVER AGAIN!" Draco's yelp was then trimmed with burning anguish. "You're my brother, my family, yes, but you're a Malfoy. Never forget what _that_ implies. You've got a life of your own, you're a free man and you've got to learn that _you _always have to come first. Leave out all the rest…it's not worthy, it'd end up destroying you."

Blaise felt a touch of unease. "This is even worse than I thought! You're actually mad at me because I've _saved _you?! What the fuck is your problem?!"

But Draco interrupted him abruptly, shouting. "I'M TEACHING YOU THE MEANING OF STRENGHT! Don't enslave yourself to the burden of others it'd make you weak and dependable: it'd be the death of you!"

Blaise gritted his teeth hard. He had an extremely enraged look on his face. "Shut the fuck up and don't you dare telling me what to do with my life or how should I feel! You're _not_ my mother, okay?!"

"You perfectly know why I've said that." Pausing to draw a deep breath, the blond adjusted the tone of his voice to a calmer, more reasonable one. "Blaise, you're not only my brother but also part of me. The blood bond we share is stronger than the one between siblings because no-one forced it upon us: we chose to do it willingly. You're the one person who trusts me unconditionally and I happen to trust you too. I knew you'd never tampered with my privacy and that's why I didn't stop you moments ago when you've accessed that particular memory of mine about you. You had every right to know but don't allow those feelings be your weakness but a source of power."

Blaise opened wide his pitch-black eyes and stared at Draco for a stolen moment in silence before shacking his head twice. "I've got nothing to lose by trusting you, but I'm afraid you can't say the same about me." He paused, fixing his gaze on the floor. "Can you read my mind too?"

"Just because I _can_ do something doesn't mean I _should_." Draco's jaw trembled slightly, stifling yet another yawn.

"Touche!" Blaise shoved one hand on the pocket of his pants; the other was balancing the wand between his fingertips. "Anyway, I've already confessed it: you're my drug of choice. You shouldn't trust me."

"If you don't have faith in yourself, you'd better deposit it in those who believe in you." He smirked confidently, quoting the exact same words Blaise said to him once.

Blaise narrowed his pitch-black eyes, checking out the collar of dark-bluish hickeys all around Draco's neck, wishing they wouldn't heal fast, not at least Luna caught a good up-close look at them.

Draco stretched both arms to the sides and rotate his hips slightly as he yawned soundly one last time before resting his hands on the back of his neck.

Eyeing lusty at Draco - completely submerged in his private world - Blaise's cheeks started to burn, but seemed that Draco didn't notice in the least._ "I've jerked you off and make you cum magnificently… This is the best day of my fucking life!"_

"I'm hungry." The blond complained, placing a hand over his empty stomach.

"_We'd most probably have ended up deshidratated and ravenous if we'd fucked each other earlier." _By then Blaise's cheeks went purple red.

Abruptly, Draco spun his head to a side, wand in hand, assuming position to strike.

Blaise looked around with an uneasy flip of his stomach. "Without a doubt that's the most nauseating aura I've felt so far, it's rotten to the core."

"Can you feel that too?" Draco asked a bit perplexed before he gasped soundly and pressed his forearm against his chest: the aching burning of the Dark Mark was bubbling beneath his skin. "We're getting closer to where the Dark Lord is."

"No shit." The all-white dressed Slytherin replied ironically.

Once Draco turned to face Blaise, his mismatched eyes were red and shiny with controlled pain and anger. "That coward is playing hide-and-seek with me. He wants me to wait, but I've waited long enough!"

"Draco." Blaise used his forearm to push the blond back and moved in front of him, looking serious. "In the worst-case scenario you and Luna are equally endangered and I can't save you both, I've already warned you that I'd do things _my_ way, whether you like it or not."

"I'd make sure you'd never have to make that decision." He pushed Blaise aside and began to run, unable to explain his sense of urgency.

Draco looked over his shoulder and noticed that Blaise was following him close behind like a shadow; an approving smirk crept on the blonde's pale lips.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Rolling sideways on the floor to dodge the killing curses that flashed in the air, Draco lunged forward and aimed towards his attackers, casting two simultaneous stunning spells that hit fiercely the pair of Death Eaters in front of him. One spell forced the man to stumble flat on his stomach, hitting his head against the floor. The force of the fall dislocated his jaw, breaking the joints with a crushing sound, causing an unstoppable internal and external hemorrhage; the other spell sent flying the body of the second Death Eater against the wall with a fierce and loud smashing sound, leaving him unconscious…_permanently_ unconscious.

A third Death Eater grinned at Draco as if in compliment of a move well played, there was a morbid delight on his androgynous pale face. He was a man in his late forties, long ash-white hair, unnatural snow-white skin, sharp cheekbones, strong yet slender frame and owner of a pair of enigmatic amber eyes.

Draco made a quick inspection as he sniffed the air around him before arching a playful eyebrow. "You'd better step aside."

The Death Eater's face tightened. "I've been entrusted to guard this entrance. If you take a step closer I'll have no choice but to bring you down."

Looking over the man's shoulder, Draco pointed at the door in front of him. "Look, your comrades are all dead, why don't you play dumb and let me in?"

The Death Eater crossed his arms over his chest, looking amused. "I can also _smell_ what you are."

"I'd be surprised if you couldn't." The Slytherin smirked softly. "Our pure blood-lines are alike."

"Yes, both have been _empowered _with Dark Magic." The man grinned darkly, examining Draco with a clinical eye. "Nevertheless…you should be afraid of me."

Draco's pearl-gray left eye started twitching. "Play immortal all you want, I know your weaknesses and they turn you into a fragile being and an easy prey. Those of my kind are mortal, yes, but we're more difficult to kill."

"I know and I don't have the patience to defeat you. But if you happen to overdo it you might end up losing the powers you've gained, along with your life, just like that." The Death Eater concluded, snapping his fingers.

Sighing soundly, Draco's eyelids fluttered briefly, as if expressing a wish.

The Death Eater shook his head twice, wondering if he'd understood correctly. "You're looking forward to get yourself killed, that's why you're here?!"

Swallowing hard his anguish, Draco then looked up at the man, his mismatched eyes were crying tears that couldn't be seen, but felt.

The Slytherin and the Death Eater spun their heads in unison seconds before the door blasted open and Blaise popped out from it, kicking the limp bodies of the Death Eaters he'd just killed out of the way.

Blaise shot Draco an enraged pissed-off look before bringing himself to speak. "You still don't get it, do you?! We're supposed to be a_ team_: we've got to stick together!"

"Why?" Draco's mismatched eyes pierced right into those pitch-black gems for a long moment. "You seem to be doing perfect working _solo_." His voice denoted an accented pride.

Draco then lowered his gaze and realized that the Death Eaters Blaise had killed resembled consumed human torches, those dead bodies looked as if they'd been burned from the inside out.

The blond gulped imperceptibly, throwing a questioning look at Blaise.

Shrugging innocently, the other replied. "Since I've have no option but to turn upside down this Castle in order to find out what you're looking for, I'd like to take this opportunity and make a journey of self-discovery."

Draco's gaze seemed to be glued to those carbonized bodies. His pearl-gray left eye pupil dilated a little, studying them with both fascination and wonder.

Blaise positioned himself in front of Draco, looking at the Death Eater up and down keenly. "Well…well…well…this is the last place I'd thought I'd come across you, Hyperion."

The moment the man repaired on the all-white dressed Slytherin, his amber eyes widened. "Blaise?! Is that you, son?" He asked almost fainting from the impact.

"Yes, it's me." He narrowed his pitch-black eyes, touching his tongue to the center of his top lip before saying. "And I'm _not_ your _son_."

Blaise and Hyperion stood opposite one another. Tension was building with each passing minute. A heavy silence blanketed the room, as if no-one knew what to say next.

Draco took the opportunity to break the tense atmosphere and asked slowly. "You two know each other?"

"He's Hyperion Prickssek…I mean…_Crissek_." Blaise was already clenching fists, he looked beyond pissed. "Allegedly my future father-in-law, but I don't give a fuck what the contract says."

"An arranged marriage?" The blond asked in absolute perplexity without repairing in the fact that those words slipped through his lips in a soft hiss-like sound.

Blaise pulled the sterling locket out from beneath his t-shirt and grabbed it tight, anger filtering through his words. "My mother had my whole life planned even before I was born and to make things worse she's the mistress of plausible deniability."

Draco snapped out of the shock almost immediately and shuddered in spite of himself for he felt a cold shiver crawling down his spine: Clarissa was no different from Lucius. Both adults had used their own children as pawns, forcing them to play accordingly to their unscrupulous and altruistic life-style standards.

The blond pursed his pale lips and frowned, inspecting the man's enigmatic amber eyes closely while placing one hand on his chin in a pensive manner immersed in an odd state of déjà vu.

"Aren't you going to introduce me? After all, we're among _family_." Draco scolded Blaise with a mocking face and turned round immediately, offering the man a smirk of practiced charm, extending his hand. "I'm Draco Malfoy, Blaise's br..."

But Draco was cut off abruptly as Hyperion's face redden; his breathing faltering and erratic. "Lucius Malfoy kidnapped my family!"

"That fucker is dead." Draco replied bluntly without caring anymore about etiquette or polite manners in a fair attempt to prevent the man from launching against him.

"I've set all the prisoners free from the dungeons of Malfoy's Manor…your wife and child included." He produced from one of his duster's pockets the gold pin with the two winged dragons with entwirled bodies and threw it to Hyperion for him to catch it. "I'd like you to return this to your daughter."

Hyperion grabbed the pin, closing his hand in a tight fist. "She gave this to you as token of appreciation. This is my family's coat of arms by giving it back you're offending me."

Draco blew some silk blond blocks out from his face and smirked maliciously.

Looking intently at Blaise, the man shot back. "I see you still have the locket my daughter gave you right after your mother and I sealed the pact between our families twelve years ago."

Blaise nodded, fighting against a building knot that was crawling up his throat. "My heart would _never_ belong to the woman I'm supposed to marry. No matter if your daughter can mess up with others people's minds at will, there's no way she'd made me forget who I am. These feelings I've got are true and cannot be erased; they are deep-rooted in every single fiber in me!"

Draco then remembered where he saw that ancient coat of arms before, engraved in Blaise's locket, the one that kept inside the photos of them both when they were children.

"It's obvious that those feelings are tormenting you. Why would you hang onto something so painful?" Hyperion couldn't keep a venomous smile from itching at the corner of his mouth.

Blaise, who was still clenching from the locket, shot a dark look at the amber eyed man. "Because the moment I let go of them I'd experience a second death."

The blond Slytherin felt his stomach squeezing in itself with bottomless despair; he turned to look at the man and sneered coldly. "Let me introduce myself _again_. I'm Draco Malfoy, Blaise's brother_._" His voice was harsh and denoted a certain level of tension behind it.

Blaise and Hyperion shared a heavy look before they turned their attention to Draco.

"In a way Blaise Zabini did die. You'll see, through his veins runs _my _family's pure blood-line now. The marriage contract between your daughter and my brother is therefore void because Blaise is no longer part of the Zabini's Clan: he's a Malfoy now." Draco concluded crossing both arms over his lean chest, placing himself in front of Blaise in a protective gesture.

Hyperion face changed as he took in Draco's words, he opened his mouth but then closed it, shaking his head, looking at Blaise with a distorted face. "What?! _You_…a Malfoy?!"

"You've heard my younger brother." Blaise nodded, grinning from ear-to-ear.

"Now that you've returned victoriously from the other side of the veil I can perceive more clearly the nature of your magic essence because you're glowing with it. I never saw something more extraordinary." The man paused, stopping abruptly walking around Blaise and looked at him in the eye. "I was right when I've chosen you, that aura of yours is incredible pure, just what my daughter's seeking. You're a _Justified_ one, you're the mortal key that opens the doors of infinite knowledge. Your offspring would lead our Clan towards the True Illumination!"

At that remark Blaise couldn't help but tense, his mind caught up with a swirl of thoughts he couldn't quite make out.

As if reading Blaise's mind, the pupils of those amber eyes dilated in full. Enraged, Hyperion shot back. "No! You belong to _us_ not to him!"

On the outside Blaise looked calm and relaxed, but he wasn't, he was furious and so was Draco.

The blond felt his face burning; he spitted his words out as he spoke. "Blaise is the sole owner of his life and master of his destiny! He can do whatever the heck he wants because he's a free man but most important because he's a Malfoy!"

Remotely pleased with Draco's answer, Hyperion grabbed Blaise by the throat, slapped him hard before throwing him to the floor. "I won't let you walk away from your obligations towards my family that easily, do you hear me?!"

"Hey you, fucker!" Once he turned round, Draco's pissed face was inches away from the man's nose, flames or wrath burned in his mismatched eyes. "You're going to pay for that."

After blocking successfully the punches Hyperion threw at him, the blond Slytherin spun his body - to gather speed and force - and sent a flying kick on the man's ribs that sent crushing the Death Eater against the wall. Draco then grabbed the man's forearm with brutal force before striking the back of the elbow joint, the savage pressure Draco applied torn completely the cartilage, incapacitating Hyperion's arm.

"Next time you dare to approach my brother, I'll rip your arm off." Draco warned.

"You're strong, but you're not match for me boy." The man shot back, ringing Draco's neck with his other hand, lifting him in the air, the whiteness in the Slytherin's complexion was slowly turning purple-blue.

In an effortless motion Blaise grabbed Hyperion's wrist – squeezing it with his long fingers in a tourniquet merciless grip - until the man's hand lost all strength and finally released Draco's neck.

Blaise leaned closer and whispered with a hoarse voice in Hyperion's ear. "My soul might have been cleansed in the waters of the Mighty Kingdom but my spirit had been purified with the flames of Hades itself: I can be both merciful and vengeful. But you've just fed my anger by hurting my younger brother. Dare to touch Draco again and I'll reduce to ashes not only your worthless self but also every single member of your Clan."

Leaving Hyperion with his mouth wide-open Blaise then pressed an open palm against Draco's chest and separated both men forcefully as he pushed the enraged blond to a corner.

"Hyperion is an extremely dangerous wizard. If he can't tear up your body in pieces then he'll mess up with your head. All the members of his family got an unbeatable psychic magic: their pure blood has been blended with the Vampire's gene." Blaise warned Draco while brushing against the fabric of his white pants the hand that touched the man with a revolting face.

"The same way we've got the Ghoul's gene in our blood, there's no reason to be afraid of someone like him." Draco's eyes darkened, still glued to Hyperion's face. "You'd better think twice before laying a finger on a Malfoy again!"

Hyperion laughed, he was starting to like Draco's fearless attitude. "You're a Dragon Child. The stars never lie…you're indeed a fierce guardian when it comes to protect your _treasure_."

"You bastard, I should have left your wife and daughter rot in their cell!" Draco growled in the back of his throat, his hands curling into fists at his sides.

Blaise grabbed Draco's shoulder, holding him back. "Shape up. Don't let him get to you."

Draco shook his head, as if to clear it and lowered his eyes to the floor, which was carpeted with dead bodies. The three of them were the only ones that remained alive…or so it seemed when a dead body of a student that lied on the floor started to twitch and shake. The rigor mortis in that boy was reversing, unstiffing the limbs by means of the electrical impulses that were still trigging some movement in that lifeless body.

His left pearl-gray eye flickered briefly with crimson iridescence. _"Some have trouble remaining dead." _

The blond produced from one of his duster pockets his pocket knife and walked intently towards the corpse. He kneeled besides the dead body and couldn't help but smirking at his stroke of luck: it was no other than Neville Longbottom and he was dead.

"Did you kill the nebbish toad?" Draco asked giving Hyperion a measuring look, his pale lips already curled into a dark smirk.

Those amber eyes locked with Draco's mismatched gems without blinking, trying to figure out what the blonde meant by that. "You mean that _boy_? Yes, I did. Was he a friend of yours?"

"Hell no! As a matter of fact, what you've done with this Gryffindor cleans your offense against my brother. You and I, we're even now and we'd better keep it that way, otherwise you'd regret having me as your enemy." Plunging the blade on the base of the boy's neck, straight into the peripheral nervous system, Draco severed the connection of the cranial nerves with the spinal cord and Neville's dead body stopped convulsing all of a sudden.

Blaise rubbed his eyes with two fingers, refusing to look when Draco's face transfixed itself with a peak of adrenaline rush from an experience that verged the necrophilic edge.

"I didn't bite him." Hyperion said bluntly, anticipating Draco's next move.

There were indeed no visible markings of fangs on Neville's body; nevertheless Draco used part of the door's frame as an improvised wood spike and pierced it through the heart. _"Better safe than sorry."_

Draco lifted himself up and furrowed his eyebrows; despite his voice sounded harsh it was full of emotion. "You and I are alike Hyperion. We both owe our loyalty to our families, not to the Dark Lord. There's no reason for you to be here anymore now that you know your daughter and wife are free. Go back to them…and don't come near _my_ family ever again."

Hyperion wasn't sure whether or not Draco was waiting for a response, when the blond Slytherin turned round and started to walk through the now empty corridor without looking him a second time, the man swallowed his pride and made his exit without saying another word.

Blaise fell into a thoughtful silence, hiding the locket back underneath his t-shirt, still avoiding making eye contact with Draco as he walked right beside him. The blond decided to break the odd tension between them, speaking with a soft voice about the day the picture inside Blaise's locket was taken.

"I remember that I didn't want to go but my mother had dragged me anyway and left me there all by myself, in a house full of strangers, asking me to wait for her to come and pick me up later. That had been the first and last time my mother forced me to do something against my will." Draco's voice trailed off, his thoughts were flashing fast, leaving him in a state of deep thinking.

Blaise bit his lip nervously, glancing at Draco from the corner of the eye. "I had just turned five; it'd been less than a year since I'd lost my father and felt like my world was finally crumbling down after I found out that my mother had enslaved my future to Hyperion's daughter. I was on the back garden, sitting behind a willow tree, hiding myself from everybody, when I heard a voice asking me why was I crying. I thought that I was imagining it, so I've confessed out loud that it was because I felt alone and scared but then I sensed that someone was actually standing next to me. Once I've opened my eyes and looked up, I saw a hand extended towards me…it was you." He finished, his lips curling into a shy smile.

Draco's mismatched eyes then fluttered with other thoughts. There was a soft smirk curling those velvety pale lips. "Scorpius _Hyperion_ Malfoy, I like how that sounds."

"Why would you want to perpetuate the memory of the vampire's hybrid that happened to kill your wife's best friend?" Blaise took a big breath, brushing with the fingers of one hand his jet black blocks away from his face and smiled bitterly. "Forget that I've asked."

Draco sighed heavily and looked away, his face hardened immediately after that. Blaise couldn't help to tense himself as well, there was indeed an _odd vibe_ in the air; sweat was already forming on his brow as he stood directly behind the blond.

"Brother, I refuse to drag you along deeper into this, I can't..." Draco started but was abruptly cut off when Blaise slapped Draco's face, hard.

The blow forced the blonde's neck to make a violent 90 degree angle turn. Draco gasped soundly, placing a hand over his bruised cheek and looked at his brother completely perplexed.

"Don't you dare to act like a stereotypical stoic _hero_ who freaks out whenever someone he cares gets hurt, you're a Malfoy!" Blaise couldn't stand Draco's out of the blue sympathetic demeanour, simple as that.

Draco's pupils dilated in a micro-second before swelling with the same fast-rate, there was a cold shiver running down his spine.

Blaise kept his hands behind his back, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, waiting patiently for Draco to make his move. Noticing that the blond remained glued on his position without the slightest sign to return the blow, Blaise used the same hand that had just hit Draco with to blow him a kiss.

Draco's mismatched color eyes changed then to an insane look. Spreading his legs shoulder-width apart he slightly bent his knees and twisted his waist, bringing his back arm around in a close hooking motion before throwing a punch right into Blaise's face. The force was such that it sent the jet black haired man flying into the air.

Scarce seconds after hitting the ground, Blaise was back on his two feet, rubbing the right side of his bruised jaw. "Okay, now you're all psyched up and good to go but in case you do something stupid remember that I've got your back. That's what elder brothers are for."

There was a playful smile curling his lips as his eyes drifted up and down Draco's hips. Pun intended.

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**A/N:**

///////////////////////////**REVIEWING IS FREE!!! TRY ONE, NO CHARGE!!!**_////////////////////////////////_

**OPEN POLE: **

**(Option #1) Do you…****LOVE BLAISE**** & WANT HIM TO BE HAPPY? **

**(Option #2) Or do you…****HATE BLAISE**** & WANT HIM TO SUFFER? **

**When reviewing please let me know because I'd try to comply with your choices when writing the next chapters, but if you don't tell me then…well…I've got no option but to let it all to my nasty lil head to do the dirty job**** and no complaints would be accepted :smirks evilly:**

_**Hyperion Crissek**__**:**_ (a non HP character created by moi…by me…): the existence of this vampire-hybrid of Death Eater was meant to give an interesting (and dark) background story to Scorpius' second name (the one granted originally by JKR, not by me). Hope you liked the character as much as I've enjoyed giving him life.

_**The death of Neville:** _I didn't want to kill him…honestly! I love that dude but the plot demanded his blood so I've got no option but to kill him (three times…he he…) but let me tell you that I've shed a tear for him…or maybe not…anyway…he's deeply missed. :crocodile tears:

_**SPOILER AHEAD!!! Characters that would appear in the next chapter: **__**Luna**__**, Draco, Blaise, Harry, Ron, Dean, Seamus, Parvati, Peter Pettigrew and….Voldemort!!! YAY!!!**_

"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will." (Mahatma Gandhi)


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N:**

**!!WARNING!!**

**VIOLENCE & LOADS OF GORE **

This chapter was the most difficult one to write so far. I've erased & write it all over again about five times already and still can't get rid of this persistent shitty feeling that keeps haunting and mocking me. What can I say to justify my psychosis? Well…hmmm… I'm in a terrible dark mood. I've got all type of problems starting by job problems, family problems, personal problems... You name it, I've certainly got it all except money and sanity.

If I had to resume in few words this chapter I'd say: IT SUCKS TO BE A HERO!!

So with that in mind, beware of the content of this chapter for it's a time bomb ready to explode… just like me.

**CHAPTER XXXII**

"_When you scream aloud, heads down! That's when I plan to rise up!  
When you scream aloud, we're doomed! That's when I plan to prove myself to you!  
_

_I've never gotten the simple thrill of a solo day, I've never seen the point in you killing you  
I've always backed my words with what I do, I'll always bite my tongue to comfort you._

_I'll be my superhero number one, I'll save me from myself  
I'll be your superhero number one, I'll save you, I'll save  
I rise above the sun in the sky, above that look in your eyes, my pride!_

_Your eyes deny a life that dulls your pride, you eyes they hide through me you'll heal with time."_

_(SOIL – "Pride")_

Her nose wrinkled, distorting completely her angelical pale face. At times like these, Luna regretted that her sense of smell had heightened that much. The room – formerly the Muggle's Study classroom - stench of alcohol and she felt a bit drownsy just from inhaling such stuffy air, but she had to make the best of her sharp senses if she wanted to make it out alive.

None of the two Death Eaters assigned by Peter Pettigrew to keep an eye on her - and other four teenagers - seemed to notice that she had worked the ropes loose. If those men hadn't been drinking, they might have noticed that immediately. The effort had been a difficult one with extreme pain on her wrists, but she was a fast healer.

Her amethyst blue eyes were glued on those two all-black dressed men sited scarce feet from her. They were drinking one glass of liquor after the other until their eyes got all puffy and groggy. The short, plump one was the first one to pass out, he knocked his head soundly over the table and didn't even complained, that had probably knock him out for good.

"Ron, are you awake?" She whispered at the red-haired Gryffindor who was also tied up next to her.

Ron's glassy eyes fluttered open. He had a nasty deep concussion on a side of his temple that made his black eye look twice as swollen.

"I couldn't…do…_anything_. They killed him…those bastards…" His voice trailed off, the guilt was such that it extinguished completely his voice.

Luna felt her heart sink. The sense of loss and agony was consuming her, she squeezed her eyes shut but she couldn't stop the tears from falling down her cheeks.

"He was my best friend." She swallowed hard her angst and that sent pain blazing around her throat. The metal collar on her neck was so tightly pressed against her skin that it barely left her breathe at all.

A cold shiver ran down her spine, making her come to reality abruptly. "Neville gave his life to protect us." Luna clicked her teeth together and opened her blood-shot eyes. "We can't let him down."

"You're right." Ron made a fast scan at Seamus, Parvati and Dean – who were laying on the floor, still unconscious from a stunning spell - before looking again at Luna. "Hey! How could you work those knots loose?"

"Practice." She replied calmly but there was a tint of distress in her voice, remembering the time Lucius locked her up in the solitary cell.

Brushing those thoughts off her head, she looked intently at the Gryffindor. "I have a plan that would get us out of here."

Ron glanced at Luna, who raised her eyebrows at him, as if she was asking him if he wanted to go through with this. He nodded eagerly.

"I want you to…" Luna stopped and looked around as if she wanted to make sure no-one else heard her saying her next words, but the still conscious Death Eater just happened to turn to look at them, she winked at Ron. "You just go with the flow, okay?"

In answer, Ron gulped.

Luna had already tested the length of the chain attached to her collar. Yes. She could make it.

One mistake and the dirty blond haired girl would lose what might be their only opportunity. Hopefully, the remaining Death Eater was too drunk to think clearly.

She closed her eyes for a moment and leaned her head back. So many possibilities and no way of knowing if any was right. She was going to let herself be driven by her instincts, and she knew there was a good chance of her guts being right.

"I'm sorry." Squeezing her eyes tight, Luna apologized in advance before swifting a kick in the Gryffindor's crotch.

As expected, the immediate reaction of Ron was to get hold of his balls and clench tight his teeth, curling and twitching like a half-stunned insect.

Luna spun her head towards her captor, feigning terror. "Help, please! Something's happening to my friend!"

Startled by Luna's yelling and Ron's crying, the Death Eater lifted from his chair with heavy steps, shooting a pissed-off look.

"Looks like you're not going to make it, lad." The man said, as if rejoicing himself with the view of the tormented teen.

The Death Eater stood still in front of the red-haired boy and crossed his arms, giving his back to Luna. She took a deep breath. Now or never. She opted for now and lifted herself slowly from the floor. Her hands were shacking slightly, clenching the chain attached to the collar of her neck.

In a lighting fast consecutive motion, Luna threw the chain into the air, encircling it around the Death Eater's throat and pulled hard from it. She was clenching from the chain so tightly that her knuckles went white. The man was starting to suffocate himself, his wand slipped through his fingers onto the floor.

"Ron, get his wand. NOW!" Luna ordered with a determined yet shaky voice.

But the red-haired boy was still sobbing, lamenting himself like the helpless crying baby he was, cupping his hands around his sore private parts.

The Death Eater turned to face Luna, pulling her close so that their faces almost touched. Luna stared up at those enraged glassy eyes, realizing that those weren't the eyes of a drunk but of an enraged and very lucid killer. The man whipped a fist at Luna, sending her crashing down onto the floor.

"Fuck the orders. You're dead!" He said with a husky growl.

Despite her hysterical heart, Luna forced her feet to move as fast as she could, reaching for the man's wand that was scarce feet away from her. But the Death Eater also made his move and grabbed Parvati, using her unconscious body as shield.

"Stay away from her and my friends or I swear I'll kill you!" The dirty blond girl warned, grabbing the wand with a shaking pulse.

"Are you threatening me, lass?!" The man shot back, ringing the throat of the poor Gryffindor girl with a hand, a cold-blood murdered look flashed on those dark eyes.

"I won't let you hurt them more than you already have!" After casting a successful Imperious curse on the man - forcing him to drop Parvati smoothly on the floor - Luna looked at the man in the eye.

"What are you going to do now with me? You can't kill a fly!" He said with a taunting, acid tone.

Luna's pallid face held no expression as something her private teacher told her struck inside her head:

"_In a black-and-white world distinctions between good and evil become questioned all the time, but there are always grey areas. Not all conflicts are based on good versus evil. Killing is an evil act but if you happen to kill someone to save yourself, tell me, do you become evil then? Yes? No? The very same moment you made up your mind and decide to protect yourself from an imminent death, you're making a choice: you must go on living and your threat must die. So tell me, is it evil to think that you always have to come first, no matter who you might end up killing?"_

Luna's complex emotional reaction to the entire ordeal was limited to curl her lips softly in an amused smirk. What followed was a blinding green light that filled the room with its luminescence.

"Luna…you…how…" Ron mumbled pitifully.

"I'm a Malfoy." She said bluntly, the smirk was still evident in her voice.

Opening his eyes wide as saucers, he chocked. "You are…WHAT?!"

"You've heard me correctly." She then pointed the wand to her friends and called out. "Relashio! Ennervate!"

As Ron kept mumbling nonsense and the others were still visible disorientated, Luna touched her neck, feeling skin where there used to be metal. Her fingers came away sticky with blood.

"That was your _plan_? To kick me in the balls?!" Ron complained with watery eyes.

"Ron, you're a terrible liar. I had no other choice. It had to look _convincing_." Luna excused herself fluttering her eyelashes in an apologetically manner and retrieved their wands from inside the pocket of the dead man.

Movement up ahead caught Luna's eye. "Come on guys, we've got to move!"

The five teenagers – wands in hand – started to run through the empty corridors without a firm plan, caring only about keeping themselves ahead of the Death Eaters. Luna's rough breathing accelerated into fast gasps, she forced herself to stop running and hunched forward, feeling the sickness crawling up her throat.

"Luna, is everything okay?" Seamus asked almost out of breath.

"Nothing to worry about, it's just a stomach flu." She lied, rubbing unconsciously her stomach, her throat burned from panting. "We can't stop, we've got to keep moving." She encouraged and the others nodded.

But she was feeling beyond sick, she felt her strength diminishing at an incredible fast rate and she was starting to feel light-headed as words that Draco had said once to her reverberated inside her head:

"_What you're saying is wrong it's actually that part of me inside you that you're trying so desperately to deny. But you can't beat it, you can't defeat it for it belongs to you, it's part of you, it's part of both of us!"_

"_I've killed a man in cold blood. My sense of vengeance blinded me. I wanted him to pay for what he'd done to us…I wanted him to suffer…"_ Grabbing her head between her hands, she started choking with hollow sobs. _"Oh God! What have I done?!"_

Parvati stopped on her tracks and – noticing that Luna had been left behind alone - she turned to look back, catching sight of her just when a Death Eater apparated scarce inches from the dirty blond haired girl.

The Gryffindor girl was about to cast a stunning spell but Luna's reflexes had been faster and the vivid green sparks of the killing curse that erupted from the Ravenclaw's wand made the Death Eater fall limp onto the floor.

"Luna, watch out!" Dean's and Seamus' alerting shouts came a little too late, as well as their restraining spells that – founding no target - hit against the wall.

Ron rushed to Luna's side and kneeled in front of her, his almond eyes traveled her sweaty and clammingly pale face with a worried look. "You don't look well. Are you in pain?"

Lifting her blood-shot eyes from the floor, she wrapped her arms around her and confessed with a thread of voice. "Yes, but I'm getting used to it."

Pursing her lips tightly, Parvati asked. "Where does it hurt?"

Lifting one hand at her chest, Luna pointed at her heart. "Here." She said, squeezing the tears away.

The moment Luna leaned against the stair's banister to catch her breath and looked down something made her froze in shock. In the room that was on the lower floor was Voldemort - jealously escorted by hundreds of Death Eaters - standing a couple of feet away from the dead body of no other than...

"HARRY!" The small group of teenagers cried in unison.

But their high-pitch cry was muted almost instantly when the main door of that very same room blasted open, sending wood splinters flying into the air. As the dusty atmosphere cleared, two male silhouettes came into view. The one leaning lazily against what was left of the door frame was a tall, skinny blond teenager of porcelain white complexion and he was completely dressed in black. From underneath his buttoned long snake leather hooded duster was visible only the collar of his silk shirt and the cuffs of his leather pants.

Luna's jaw dropped to the floor the moment she repaired on who was next to her husband.

"_Draco, what have you done now?!"_ Feeling her strength completely drained out from the shock, Luna blacked-out.

Standing right besides Draco was another teenager. This one was completely his opposite: ebony skin, dark hair, strong built athletic body, slightly taller. He was dressed in immaculate white with a linen V neck t-shirt and tailored cashmere silk pants.

"We meet again. At last." Voldemort's eerily low voice broke the silence.

Identical cocky smirks touched the brother's faces. Draco swallowed a sarcastic reply and crossed his arms while Blaise assumed position right beside him, ready to strike.

Those inhumanly cold red eyes were glued to Draco. "You've been hiding from me, boy."

"I've learned that the easiest place to hide is in plain sight." Draco said making his tone deliberately harsh and ironic.

Repairing on the lifeless body of the raven haired Gryffindor scarce feet away from where he was standing, the blond Slytherin sneered.

"Is he dead?" Draco asked with an incredulous tone. He tilted his head to the side, inspecting Harry with a clinical eye.

Voldemort looked around, locking eyes with several Death Eaters, grinning darkly. "Yes."

"With Potter you never know." And with that the young blond Slytherin kicked the limp body fully in the stomach. "Seems he actually died this time…" He showed a winning smirk, walking over the mortal remainings of what once was Harry Potter.

"Isn't that what you always wanted?" Voldemort asked venomously, he couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his traitorous lips.

After rubbing those dark lines behind his mismatched eyes, Draco sighed soundly. "We all got to die sometime, whether we do it proud and free, or scared and shackled. We're standing right in the middle of a war, so lots of people are expected to die." He paused, an insane look haunted him. "Do I get to pick which ones?"

Draco and Blaise both exchanged curious smirks in their quick and silent communion before they lifted their wands, the movement tight and controlled.

Countless spells and curses filled the room in seconds. Draco's movements were so graceful that Ron, Seamus, Parvati and Dean – who paused from time to time to check up if Luna had regained conscience - wondered how was possible for someone to move his body like _that_. The blond Slytherin seemed to be dancing at the compass of a silent waltz, but what the clueless teenagers didn't realize was that those were the calculating moves of a trained killer.

On the other hand, Blaise's moves were incredibly artful too but unlike Draco, the way the jet black haired Slytherin handled his own body –stronger, heavier and more muscled than the blond – was less subtle and more aggressive.

Despite using completely different techniques, both Slytherins developed an eerie and unique synchronism with their moves, one covering the other with an inhuman accuracy: together they were an unbeatable and terrifying unified killing machine.

Blaise swinged his right leg sideways in a circular motion, kicking the head of the Death Eater with the top of his shoe. The kick was executed performing a 360 degree angle, granting the blow a deadly force. The face of his attacker contorted grotesquely, sending him flying down onto the ground.

After disarming his attacker, Draco made a harmonious full spin, dodging the many vivid green killing curses that went flying past his side, and before completing the turn he captured the man's forearm, using it to twist the upper arm – following a motion that resembled turning a key in a keyhole, restraining that arm from any possible motion – and with the force of the spin he sent the body of his attacker flying against four other Death Eaters, the five bodies crushed painfully against the wall.

Draco looked up at Blaise and made an imperceptible gesture that the other read immediately. Blaise nodded and spinned around, this time he sent his left foot flying upward and connected it squarely with his victim's jaw.

Blaise stretched first both his arms - fingers entwirled - then lowered them and hunched a bit a second before Draco made a starting run, placed a foot inside the concavity of his brother's knitted palms and Blaise hurled the blond into the air. Taking advantage of the panoramic aerial view Draco cast a series of killing curses as he pivoted wonderfully his elastic slim body, which made his long duster open and the hem undulate - resembling the petals of a black rose - before landing smoothly on the floor on his bended knees. In that position, using his long legs, Draco windmilled a row of Death Eaters to the ground.

After sharing another quick signal - and Blaise sent crushing into the wall a couple of Death Eaters with a stunning spell, rendered to the floor another ones casting several consecutive Cruciatus and slashing curses and declared the imminent death sentences of a group of cursed souls casting a non-stop row of killing curses - the jet black haired Slytherin stretched his left arm right above the height of his shoulder and tensed it.

Draco dived in between the blasting jinxes and contra-spells at maximum speed, grabbed Blaise's forearm with a firm grip of both his hands. In a crouch position, he shifted his feather-weight body back and forth – using Blaise's arm as a swinging bar - after completing a 360 turn he catapulted himself over a mountain-like Death Eater. Draco fastened his thighs around the man's waist from behind – in what resembled a piggyback ride - and wrapped his arms around the man's throat before making a zig-zag tourniquet motion, snapping the neck of his victim.

"C'mon, let's play horsey!" Draco cheered with a torn child-like voice, rocking himself back and forth on the back of the limp dead body. His mismatched eyes seemed lost, staring at the nothingness.

Whatever the reason behind what was causing Draco to behave like that – a dangerously peak of adrenaline, his debilitated sanity, the lack of sleep and food on his system - it certainly couldn't have stricken the blond Slytherin at a worse moment.

Apparating scarce inches from behind Draco, a Death Eater – who wanted to profit from the blonde's condition and kill him in cold blood - aimed his wand towards Draco.

Looking over his shoulder with unfocused eyes, Draco smirked shyly at his attacker and asked. "Wanna play with me?"

But the blazing green lighting of the killing curse that struck successfully its target wasn't the one of the Death Eater but the one that came from Blaise's wand.

Opening wide his mismatched eyes, staring back at Blaise with admiration, Draco cheered with childlike tones. "WOW! You're sooo kwell! Do it again! Do it again!"

Blaise padded softly the top of Draco's head, messing a bit more those untamed silk blond blocks as he did that, and said with a sympathetic, parental tone in his voice. "Sure kiddo, play-time's just began."

Stretching completely the length of his muscled arm Blaise waved masterfully his wrist - resembling the movement when sticking a whip – and cast a series of consecutive killing curses. Following a domino effect, the row of Death Eaters that were enclosing the brothers fell limp to the floor.

The blond looked beyond amused and started clapping hands. "Green sparkles! Green sparkles! Weeee! That was awesome! You've kept your word, just like you said you would!"

Grabbing Draco from his armpits Blaise lifted him up, straightened his duster and brushed with the fingers of one hand the blonde's fringe back. "Of course, there's nothing I wouldn't do for my younger brother."

Draco lowered his gaze to the floor for a moment; his pale cheeks blushed a timid shade of pink. When the looked up at Blaise, he bit his lip nervously.

"Do you care about me that much?" Draco asked naively, he sounded happy.

Blaise nodded, smiling broadly.

"I'd do anything for you too, big brother!" He said with a faulting high-pitch squeak.

"I know and you've done a lot for me already. I love you for that kiddo, for not giving up on me. I won't give up on you either." Locking his pitch-black eyes on the mismatched gems in front of him, Blaise started whispering some faint musical words, rubbing softly the sides Draco's temple following a circular motion using his thumbs, causing the blonde's eyelids to flutter and close briefly.

Once Draco opened his eyes, the acuteness, sharpness and wickedness of that gaze told Blaise his younger brother was back.

The remaining Death Eaters gathered around the all-black figure of Voldemort, forming a human shield. Blaise pressed his back against Draco's; both brothers regrouped themselves to mount their next assault.

And that was when a new horde of bear-sized built men stepped into the scene, aligning themselves in front of the Slytherins.

"Seems that we've made quite a fuss already for the last standing offensive line of owned animals to make its entrance..." Draco paused and sent a warning stare at Blaise. "And when I talk about them being animals I'm not kidding, those _are_ beasts."

Anticipating such tragic turn of events, Blaise flashed a confident smile and winked at Draco. "Do you trust me?"

The blond let go a silent gasp – looking a bit worried about Blaise's next move - but then pursed his pale lips and managed a tight nod.

"All right then..." Taking a step forward, the jet black haired Slytherin shielded the blond with his strong body.

Pointing his wand up high, Blaise called out. "Shall the forces which cannot be seen by the mortal eye enlighten and fortify my heart so may I well and worthily accomplish the task with I am about to perform!"

A blinding light, followed by a thunder-like crushing sound filled the room as ancient marks started tracing on the floor by itself all around Draco, placing him inside a circle. Draco recognized those markings immediately: they were Geomantic Characters…but they were encoded. The blond frowned, deep in thinking. His mismatched eyes widened when from those marks came out incorporeal swirls of light that started to curve and assembled one with the other forming a shield all around him.

"Whoa!" Draco heard himself exclaiming euphorically when he touched one of those rays of lights and triggered inside him an inexplicable pleasant sensation.

It was as if touching a soft and warmth ethereal fur, it was indeed a wonderful feeling and the more he touched it, the greater the sensation became inside him. He noticed that when one of those lights – that followed a soothing motion with the rest, like a calm tide – touched one Death Eater that got dangerously close to the shield, the swirls got all of a suddenly incredible agitated and sent the man flying into the air, as if struck by a lighting or something.

With an accomplished grin, Blaise continued reciting out loud. "By the power to me committed, by an act of force and free will, I summon the four elements, to reveal, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the true nature of those in front of me!"

A tongue of bluish-white fire erupted from Blaise's wand and in a matter of seconds it grew larger and threatening as well, encircling the bodies of those huge and menacing Death Eaters.

Holding tight his wand, the all-white dressed Slytherin clenched his teeth, looking enraged. "I've been granted the eyes of the Key of truth and what I see in you is hateful! You've all gave up the one thing that you should have held as most desirable and precious: your own souls. The degree of such shameful act shall be paid with your flesh and bones!"

Blaise's dark eyes sparkled eerily. "I'm the Justified one, the one who came in triumph, I am the Veiled one, no mortal may see my face and live!"

Following a synchronized unison motion, the line of Death Eaters tilted their heads up and opened their mouths. The tongues of fire that surrounded them slowly entered their bodies, liquefying their flesh, torching their bones, burning them from the inside out. From the large number of carbonized bodies, only three men of the gorilla-like squad army remained unharmed.

Pointing at them with his wand, Blaise's lips curled into a candid smile. "I have journeyed so far through distance, even unto the great distance that I have reached the Rising Sun. I have witnessed the end of every man's quest for there are no glasses of vision so darkened that they can long succeed in concealing the truth from me. I summon the four elements to preserve your true essence. Shall this experience reinforce your hearts. So mote it be!"

Without saying a word, those three Death Eaters dropped their wands to the floor and started running for cover like cockroaches that got caught by the light.

Before the swirls of light faded from around Draco and the Geomantic figures vanished from the floor, the blond managed to read only two characters of the encoded enchantment – the ones that happened to be repeated several times - for it was not only an extremely difficult one to decipher but also to cast. Deep inside Draco knew it would have been incredibly challenging for him to cast it because the kind of magic that nurtured such enchantment was beyond powerful, hard to balance and master and most important it was as ancient as the world itself.

"_The character that was repeated the most was _Puer_ known as _The Sword_ the one who has all natural elements active except for water for it's ruled by Mars, elemental of fire…it's meaning refers to male energies, primarily __aggression__ and passion…the second character in line was _Fortuna Major _known as_ the Greater Fortune, _its inner element is earth while its outer element is_ _fire…again. It denotes power and success…favorable in conflicts and contests…a figure of stability and long-term success…it also denotes hardship at the outset of an endeavor. What intrigues me the most was why the characters had been aligned following such an unusual chart, as if they were in conjunction…a conjunction of astral houses. That was not just a mere protective enchantment…it looked like a transcription of The Fates…that's why Blaise cast it encoded…he didn't want me to know…or maybe he doesn't know it either… _" Draco said to himself, still immersed in deep thought.

As if realizing what he'd just done Blaise turned to look at Draco immediately, fearing his brother's reaction.

"I've took precaution, just in case what I'd done to those fuckers went wrong and backfired." The jet black Slytherin said in what sounded like an apology.

But the silent approving smirk that came natural from Draco's lips soothed Blaise's troubled heart, washing him over with a warm feeling.

"_Thank you for not treating me like a freak." _Blaise smiled to himself.

Now that the room was cleared from at least ninety per cent of the Death Eater's threat – for there was still a small number of them jealously escorting Volvemort - the place fell into a deaf silence for a brief moment before the candles of the chandeliers and sconces that illuminated the room regained intensity and stopped flickering.

Draco's smirk dropped down his face when he repaired on the _other_ dead bodies that were piled on the furthest corner of the room. Blaise also felt his grin fading from his face when he recognized many of those corpses with clammingly white faces with dark blue lips: mostly students and their families. Only a couple of hostages remained – barely - alive.

A shaky, broken voice of an old man sobbed with what seemed to be his final breath. "You've killed my boy!" He accused, fixing his stare at Peter Pettigrew.

Draco knew that poor old man; he was Cedric Diggory's father. The blond twitched his long fingers as if he wanted to wrap his hands around Pettigrew's throat that very instant, giving the treacherous Death Eater a look full of venom.

"He's already doomed, mourning the death of his son gives him nothing to live for. Still you're threatening to_ kill_ him?!" Rage and indignation choked off Draco's voice. "You're the one who deserves to die, you filthy coward rat!"

In the blink of an eye, Draco cast the killing curse but was immediately blocked with one of Voldermort's spells. Blaise had already cast a spell to protect both Draco and himself, just in case the blonde's attack was neutralized.

Draco motioned to speak, but Voldemort cut him off by gazing upon him once more. "Would you be a good pet and join your master now?"

"I'm not the domesticated kind." Draco's anger wasn't going to leak away that easy.

Rising a hand towards Fudge and Umbridge, Voldemort rejoiced himself. "You'd better follow their example; they knew what's best for them."

Voldemort watched Draco's eyes as he looked up and caught the momentary flicker that lit that pearl-gray left eye from within.

Every muscle in Draco's body tensed. "You're playing safe, selling yourselves to the higher bidder, right?!" He spitted out angrily at those two traitors.

"You haven't answered me yet, boy." Voldemort urged.

"I challenge you to a duel milord: just you and me." There was steel in that icy tone of Draco, no fear clouded those mismatched eyes.

"_I'm Draco's unstable and traumatized risky behaviour_."

Blaise's heart missed two beats altogether, he started sweating profusely, refusing to believe what he'd just heard coming from both Draco's mouth…and mind.

"Unrepentant and defiant to the bitter end?" Those red eyes burned with the fire of dislike.

"Those who want to live, let them fight, and those who do not want to fight in this world of eternal struggle do not deserve to live." Draco replied venomously, quoting Lucius' words.

For a moment they looked at each other in the face, Voldemort couldn't believe he'd been challenged by the blond Slytherin. "I admire your courage, boy. If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead by now. It's not wise to engage into a fight if you know you'd lose. Seems that you're forgetting with whom you're talking with."

Blaise looked at Draco with an impatient and uneasy expression on his face. They briefly made eye contact. _"Draco, can't you see that he's playing with you? You're easily provoked, easily incited to riot when you lose your temper. Don't let this fucking asshole incite you beyond your point of tolerance."_

When Draco's gaze returned to Voldemort it was full of extreme detestation for the man before him. "You're the most powerful, most fearful wizard in the history of the Wizardry World. You're a unique being, milord, someone completely _different_ from the rest of us."

"That's more like it." Voldemort's eyes were brilliant red like a burning consuming fire. "Now. Who do you think _you _are?"

Draco shrugged and the smirk that was starting to form was consumed by a raw melancholy that threatened to nest inside him.

"I'm just one of the many leashed animals of the army you've created, milord." He paused as sadness softened his look, for scarce seconds though. Feeling a growl rising in his throat, Draco added. "But that's about to change."

"Why are you doing this?" Voldemort asked quietly.

"For the same reason anyone who's been imprisoned like a beast would: revenge. You might have burned my flesh with your Mark and claim it as your own, but my heart and soul do not belong to you, those are mine to keep." Draco's voice sliced through the air like steel.

Glancing around at the few Death Eaters that still remained there, the elder replied. "All of this, you included, is mine."

"Like I've said before, milord, while trying to prove better than the rest, you alienated yourself, turning into an outsider: nature always rejects everything what's foreign to it. You can't claim the Wizardry World as yours because the moment you take it, it will swallow you all and vomit your alien self back. So…in the end…you'll lose. It's called _natural selection_." Draco's right hand blurred into motion with a quick snap of his wrist.

Voldemort couldn't believe he's been hit with a Cruciatus Curse.

"I'm called many names, including _monster_, but it's only when I'm fighting a _real_ monster that I feel truly human." There was no expression on Draco's face but his voice denoted the warmth of his bleeding heart.

"Don't wound what you cannot kill." Voldemort stepped forward, feeling enraged and betrayed.

Draco smirked to himself when Blaise sent him a mental warning asking just what the Hell was he doing. Again, he shrugged innocently and replied. _"Physical agility will always lose to mental agility: this is warfare of the mind."_

A thick foggy black line was traced on the floor around Draco's and Voldemort's silhouettes, leaving everybody else outside it. That line defined and limited the area where the duel was meant to take place. That had been the reply of Voldemort to Draco's actions. It was impossible from anyone outside that circle to enter the area or reach it using magic – no matter how powerful they were and whether they use Dark Magic or not – because the only way it could be erased was when the one who cast the circle was killed or if his opponent died.

Blaise's desperation couldn't have been plainer. He felt the anxiety slowly melting his stomach, literally burning its way out. The knotted sensation on his gut was soon replaced by a cold, harsh leash, he felt like dying…all over again, only this time it was billion times worse: it was no other but Draco the one in mortal peril.

"_Why am I doing this? It's simple Blaise__, this is a battle of honour. For what you ask? Well,__ I have a goal for which I won't hesitate to offer myself as sacrifice, to risk every danger, to take upon myself whatever is bad and worst: freedom. I'd like to call it the greatest passion."_ Blaise chuckled involuntarily when he followed Draco's thoughts.

Both Voldemort and Draco were fighting fearlessly the same fight, their magic spells and contra-spells meeting in the middle, each Slytherin using the same technique at the same time. But it was until a slashing curse hit Draco that made him realize he needed to find another angle.

"If you're so fast, how did that happen?" There was a harsh, mocking tone underlaying Voldemort's words.

Draco grimaced against the pain, there was no comparison with the way Voldemort cast the curses. His magic was without precedent, he could turn the simplest jinx into a deadly blow.

Using every bit of self control he could master, Draco got up the floor. "That was just a fluke."

But when a Cruciatus Curse rendered the blond to the floor, this time, tears threatened to fall from his blood-shot eyes. Draco contorted his face and squeezed them away.

Blaise looked up and saw some sort of anticipation in Draco's eyes. Seconds before a fulminating killing curse could hit him, Draco regrouped himself almost immediately making a backwards somersault and –skipping a second consecutive deadly curse – he made another somersault, this time sideways.

"You've must have realized that I've missed intentionally, next time I won't." The elder threatened, his voice dripping with the venom of his anger.

Draco's eyes narrowed, he had to find away to turn every disadvantage into an opportunity.

"You haven't even caught a glimpse of my magic yet. You're still unaware of what I'm capable of doing, milord." There was a murderous rage beginning to boil within Draco's chest.

The elder Slytherin stared at the blond in silence but then he began to do a strangest thing ever, he laughed, or at least he brought himself to do something that resembled laughter inside that soulless shell of his. That gave the shivers to everyone present in that room, Draco included.

Voldemort snorted with amusement. "Quite the opposite, I've been watching you, studying your every move and testing your many skills ever since you've set foot back in this school. You're quite a unique being yourself. It would be fool of me to kill the only wizard who, using his own Dark Magic combined with his broad knowledge in Alchemy, not only successfully cleansed and purified a dead body but also managed to retrieve its soul from the other side of the veil and restored its mortality. You, my boy, have unlocked the greatest mystery of all: you can rise the dead!"

"NO!" Draco started to experience shortness of breath. "My brother, he…he was _asleep_. I only….I just…woke him up…I didn't …"

The blond Slytherin's heart-rate skyrocketed, inducing his body to shake uncontrollably. He started to sweat, feeling erratic cold chills and hot flashes. _"Brother, you never died. I knew, deep inside me, I knew you were still alive, waiting for me to wake you up. I knew that because you're part of me. If you'd died then I should have felt that loss but I still felt you! All this time you were gone I still felt you with me!"_

Draco's vision field narrowed considerably, he blinked several times to clear his sight but all around him started to look foggy.

Blaise's voice filled Draco's mind once more, this time he kept his tone smooth and relaxing: _"Draco, don't listen to that asshole and pay attention instead to what's happening to you. You're heading straight into a panic attack. Calm down, master your breathing and regain control of your own body. You're rational. Believe it. You're strong. Believe it. You're disciplined. Believe it. You're sharp-witted. Believe it. You're my best friend, my most important person, my younger brother and I believe in you. I always have and always will."_

Attuning his senses and mind with an inhuman accuracy, aligning both his pulse and emotions, Draco balanced them until everything inside him quieten into a straight flat line. The moment his mismatched eyes regain their sharpness, he found that Voldemort had been successfully hit by his disarming and stunning spells.

Draco's face denoted not a single trace of emotion. "AVADA…"

But Draco's voice died instantly. He opened wide his mismatched eyes staring in horror when a shining silver glove-like arm protruded from his chest, just beneath his tenth rib. The moment Pettigrew withdraw his arm from the young Slytherin's body it deflated completely one of Draco's lungs, leaving an open hole through his flesh and bones.

That treacherous rat - who'd been hidden all that time inside Voldemort's cloak in his animal form - had struck the blow from behind without Draco's slightest chance to notice until it was too late.

Alerted by his broad-based knowledge of anatomy, Draco realized that the hissing sound that reached his ears was no other but his pneumothorax slowly suffocating in a room full of air. Without a doubt that was one of the deadliest forms to damage beyond repair a human body, it was a fatal, mortal wound.

Draco's mismatched eyes disappeared momentarily behind his eyelashes. The pain was so intense that his entire world turned white for a brief moment. That was when Draco screamed out in agony, shortly after that, his breath was leaving his body. The grip of his wand started to weaken and his legs failed on him, forcing him to the ground, he could sense the blood oozing out from inside of him, he was slowly bleeding to death.

Blaise cried his grief-stricken heart out and doubled over, clutching his chest. He tried every single spell, curse, jinx, charm, everything, _anything_ he could come up with in order to bring down the magical barrier or the duel's circle and get to Draco, but it was useless: nothing could pierce through the unyielding magic of the duel's circle.

Like a domino effect, the walls of the surrounding area collapsed to the ground, shattering the founding of the floor beneath and the structure above that room. The ricochet of Blaise's devastating magic had been the massive destruction of everything in a radius of about three blocks. The damage to that part of the Castle was beyond precedent but everything inside the circle that cast Voldemort remained intact and untouched.

Blaise's legs gave out from exhaustion; he just slumped against one destroyed column. His whole body started to hurt, his muscles were tense and he felt like he couldn't move another inch. He was also bleeding profusely, but unlike Draco's physical wounds, Blaise's wounds were spiritual.

Grabbing his head between both hands, Blaise felt Draco's voice talking to him: _"Pain is the only thing that truly reminds us we're still alive. It plays __an important protective function. So this is a good thing, as long as I'm alive there's still a chance, this isn't over…yet."_

Draco forced himself to stand up. He buttoned his duster and started a slow slightly stiff walk, leaving behind him a trail of blood, he was bleeding profusely.

Trying to keep his balance, wincing as he did so, Draco accused with a broken voice. "You _cheater_…you've lost…my respect." But then he started coughing blood very violently.

"WHAT?!" Opening wide his dark red eyes, Voldemort exclaimed with a skeptic raising tone. _"_You're still able to _move_?!"

Those dizzy mismatched eyes held an unfocused, distant look. "This pain…this is…_nothing_! I'm used to…a lot worse." Draco said, barely clinging onto consciousness.

Voldemort studied Draco, wondering how possibly that boy could remain standing in the condition that he was in. The elder Slytherin had seen the damage inflicted on the blonde's body, considering the extent of that wound it was amazing that Draco was still standing _and _attacking.

"I'll save your life if you promise that you and your _brother _would loyally serve me." He grinned darkly after blocking two consecutive killing curses that the blond threw at him.

Draco's mind flashed then with memories of his Head of House._ "When you're weaker, never fight for honour's sake; choose surrender instead. Surrender gives you time to recover, time to torment and irritate your conqueror, time to wait for his power to wane. Do not give the satisfaction of fighting and defeating you: surrender first. By turning the other cheek you infuriate and unsettle him. Make surrender a tool of power." _

The blond Slytherin could no longer hold his wand; it fell to his feet with a silent sound that for unknown reasons deafened both his and Blaise's ears. His knees were becoming weak as his condition grew ever more precarious. His legs caved in again and sent him crashing to the floor.

"WE ACCEPT!! DON'T LET HIM DIE!!" Blaise cried out loud as his throat became numb from the effort.

"No." Draco shot back, spitting blood when he spoke.

Crawling on the floor to pick up his wand, the blond tried to force himself to his feet, but the loss of blood had left him weakened. "Fight me…fight…me…"

"What are you trying to prove, fallen _hero_?" Voldemort started to pace around Draco closely followed by Pettigrew, and at once Draco felt the room began to spin.

Draco squeezed his eyes shut; a familiar yet feared voice filled his ears this time. "_Embrace what makes you stronger, embrace what keeps you from dying: learn to tame and direct evil. It's the strongest part of you, you were born with it, don't deny it."_

The young Slytherin broke down into an unstoppable, fierce coughing. From his open mouth came pouring even more blood onto the floor as tears of pain and rage formed in his eyes despite himself.

"_I'm the __greatness excellence of the virtuous:__ I'm Draco's pride."_

The blond felt the darkness descending upon him, both his eyes rolled to the back of his head as a mixture of demonical voices rushed past his ears. White-hot stabbing flames started piercing Draco's amethyst blue right eye. The bright light blinded him inspite of his closed eyelids.

Draco started moving silently his lips, reciting an ancient healing chant through his cracked lips. _"Between extremes of worst and best, may I stand equalized and blessed. Let bad and worse appear, for there's no ill I fear. I'll make the pain my body brings, be nothing and cease. So may I be from this torment free!"_

"Thinking about it, your _brother_ is more valuable to me than you." Volvemort turned to look at Blaise and added. "After crossing victoriously the veil and conquer death you've been gifted with an instantaneous wisdom and knowledge. Knowledge is, after all, power. You've already proved what you can do. With such spiritual insight, unusual abilities are learned. Your mind, body and spirit…they have all learnt to move as one."

"Save my brother and I'd do anything you want." Blaise said weakly, his anguished voice interrupted by a silent sob.

Voldemort shook his head. "No, he's no use to me anymore."

"If you let him die, call yourself a dead asshole then." Blaise cracked the knuckles of one hand against his own chest, his voice shuddering with rage. "The moment you step outside that circle, I'll burn your rotten self to the core and toss the ashes into Hell myself!"

Seizing the all-white dressed Slytherin from head to toe, Voldemort asked venomously. "You think you're a threat to me?"

Dangerously determined, Blaise's pitch-back eyes glittered eerily. "I _know_ I am."

"Hey you, fucker, leave my brother out of this!" Draco called Voldemort's attention with a cracked hoarse voice.

"Draco…" Blaise's voice was a mix of anguish and relief; a hollow sob escaped him even though he seemed to fight it.

The moment Voldemort spun his head to face the blond, he was welcomed with a crimson shower instead – blood from the dead body of Petter Pettigrew, surgically butchered by Draco - that washed the elder Slytherin from head to toe.

Draco stretched both arms, spinning around, letting himself also being washed over by that warm bloody rain as he cheered. "That one was for _you_, Cedric Diggory! You can rest in peace now, Hogwarts Tri-wizard True Champion! You've just been duly avenged!" His hysterical voice was torn, piercing and shaky.

The young Slytherin then stopped abruptly his frenzy celebration and stood right in front of Voldemort, his face hidden behind the hood of his duster, only his mouth was visible.

"Okay, now that I've lost some of the blood that had rushed to my head I can think more clearly." Draco admitted with a morbid ironic tone.

"This is _impossible_!" Voldemort started gesturing with both hands his annoyance.

"We Malfoys are die-hard bastards. I will not die…" Draco coughed weakly as he slowly began drowning with his own blood. A thin crimson thread was coming from his mouth as he spoke again. "I will not die without ensuring you'll meet your end as well."

Voldemort shook his head quickly. "You fool! I can't _die_, I'm immortal!"

There was a funny whistling sound coming from Draco's chest each time he drew a breath and his voice sounded even more broken and low with the passing of the minutes. "Since Alchemy is a science, it follows the natural laws. So, if we want to _gain_ something… something of equal value had to be _taken_ from us. The awakening of my brother was paid in full sacrificing your last source of power: Harry Potter's stigma. You'd marked that Gryffindor git with the Ancient Rune SIG: the flaming sword, the terrible ziz-zag lighting from the central sun. Every great work is always signed with that Rune…that was your last, living Horcrux. You're nothing but an ordinary mortal now, just like the rest of us."

Those vivid red eyes narrowed with scepticism. "You're lying!"

"No, that was foreplay." Draco then rolled over the sleeve of his duster and shirt, exposing the flesh of his bony left arm and started scratching thoroughly the Dark Mark with his wand. "Now you're fucked."

In awestruck wonder Voldemort realized that crimson drops started to fall from his left forearm. He clutched from it and looked up at Draco, terrified.

"The moment I've acknowledged the fortress within myself, I can no longer accept slavery, no matter how it's disguised. I REFUSE TO DIE AS AN OWNED ANIMAL!" Sudden, without ceremony, like the arrival of a cannon-shot, the killing curse erupted from Draco's wand and Voldemort fell down to the ground, shaking, dying.

"DRACO!" Called out an out-of-breath female voice, it was Luna.

As the foggy black circle faded - breaking the enchantment of the duel's area – both Blaise and Luna broke into a run. Blaise caught Draco seconds after the blond slumped back completely drained of energy, stopping his fall.

Luna threw herself over her husband, she encircled her arms around him, crushing Draco to her and both kneeled on the floor. "Don't you die on me! I'm no good without you!"

She then started to attack Draco with kisses. "You've once told me that my kisses were magic, so I'll continue to kiss you until you're completely healed!"

Draco chuckled painfully; he couldn't believe he was actually hearing those words. It was almost too much. She continued kissing him madly.

"Is that a promise?" He asked in between her kisses still in a dizzy state, while Luna continued to bury her lips with his.

"What?!" Luna chocked with her sobs and he used that moment to taste her tears.

"That you won't be any good without me…is that a promise?" Draco inquired, smirking devishly from behind the hood.

She nodded, wiping the tears away with one trembling hand and lowered the hood, uncovering Draco's face.

Blaise and Luna gasped soundly in unison, both felt their hearts sinking in an abyss of despair.

The blond Slytherin looked ghostly pale: black accented hollow circles enclosed his glassy eyes. His duster was soaked in blood, dark crimson trails slowly dripping onto the floor.

"Luna, you're a Malfoy: we can't be _good_…we're _great_." Draco then started to suffer excruciating contractions inside his lungs, his throat burned and his chest arched from the violent shakings.

His coughing was more intense and this time he couldn't stop.

A choked sob escaped Luna's throat. "Don't die, please, don't die!" She ordered, crushing him to her_. _

Draco's consciousness was fading in and out. "Would you…kiss me…one last time?"

Luna leaned closer and pressed her lips softly against Draco's. Both parted their lips, giving access for their tongues to explore deep inside their mouths. The taste of blood didn't prevent Luna or Draco to part their lips but encouraged them to continue devouring each other. The kissing became then more fervently, more passionate, more desperate.

Draco used his very last ounce of strength into melting his mouth with Luna's, stroking his tongue with hers. He wasn't going to let go of that succulent mouth of hers, he didn't care if he couldn't breathe or if he was chocking himself with his own blood anymore, nothing else mattered.

"I'm ready…to go…now…" Draco's eyes rolled back over his head and slumped backwards, his whole body started twisting and aching, his lungs twitched from the pressure of being barely able to inhale.

"Don't give up, don't you dare! For fuck sakes, fight back!" Blaise couldn't process what was happening. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't stop the tears from blinding his eyes, no matter how many times he sniffled and wiped his eyes.

"Had enough…no more…" There was a burning anguish on top of the pain in Draco's voice.

Stricken by a flash of lucidity, Blaise demanded to know. "That asshole said there was a way to save you and you know how, don't you?! You have to tell me. NOW!" He growled.

"Too…late…" Draco opened his eyes, both sparkled smoke gray darkness, what was left of Luna's Lifespan Seal was gone.

Blaise grabbed Draco by the collar of his duster, shaking him. "You son-of-a-bitch! You're letting yourself go! Why are you giving up?!"

Draco smirked sadly to himself but said nothing.

"Are you going to let your child grow without a father?! How can you be so bloody selfish?! Damn you Draco! Death is not an option here! Do you hear me?!" Blaise's mind pounded with the present nerve-racking situation. He knew he wasn't thinking rationally, he was getting frantic and that made things even worse.

Draco turned to look at Luna, who was right beside him, holding tight his hand on hers. A bright crimson stream of blood flowed from Draco's mouth. "Name…him …Scorpius Hyperion…our son…"

Blaise wrapped one arm around Draco and told Luna to hold tight on the blond too, the three came together in a tight group hug.

Tightening the grip of his wand with his free hand, Blaise called out. "I have dwelt under many dispensations of natural darkness, but the call at length came by which I was brought to the knowledge, and seeing that it has given me the power of the True Light. There is one place where the heat ceases from troubling and the weary souls find their rest."

Shortly before that, a glowing sphere of energy wrapped the three of them inside its luminescence. The power and magic from within Blaise was slowly warming, relaxing, and soothing both Draco's body and mind:

"_Draco, I'm here with you, Luna can also hear us now.__ I won't let you die if there's a way to save you.__ Help me to help you. Deep inside I know I can prevent your death but I haven't found a way to control and direct my new abilities yet and my mind is a complete wreck that's bombarding with things I can't quite make out. All I need is a clue; just point me in the right direction. I need you to guide me, please!" _

Draco's eyes fluttered open, Blaise and Luna got a glimpse of smoke grey darkness blended with black sparks on the blonde's eyes:

"_I can't do that. I've promised I'd never risk the lives of those I care about again." _

Draco then rolled his eyes to the back of his head, leaving exposed his white orbs with swarmed nets of tiny red veins:

"_Snape once told me that __life itself is complex beyond our understanding. That didn't stop me from finding an answer myself. To live is to love. Love is a feeling impossible to define for there are countless ways to express it. Love is so complex and life is so harsh and distressing that many manufacture or conjure up fantasies about love like oases in the desert and run to them, desperate to find a reason to live for." _

The blond Slytherin's face contorted with excruciating pain as the Swastika cross that hanged from his neck started to morph its shape and size. The blue stones switched their color into sparkling pitch-black:

"_Fantasies are not always fantastical, but they certainly contrast with reality, but reality itself is sometimes so theatrical that fantasy becomes a desire for simple things." _

Draco felt his body extremely heavy. He couldn't move or lift his arms or legs anymore. Unable to fight it any longer, he closed his eyes. His eyelids were simply too heavy to hold open a moment longer:

"_See you on the other side brother, until then…live and protect my heir. I know Scorpius would grow up safely…with his uncle…by his side."_

Both Blaise and Luna felt a chill wind looming around them, that ice-cold sensation came directly from Draco. As traces of raw pain threatened to encircle them, they sensed despair, they sensed hatred, they sensed Draco's true source of energy…they sensed evil:

"_Till death do us part, sweetheart. I've kept my promise. Now that your condemnation… ended sooner than expected…be happy about it…you've finally got rid...of me..." _

Draco then lost his grip on consciousness, his face smoothed out as his shivers started to fade.

"NO! I won't let you die!" Someone suddenly screamed with purest rage.

From both Blaise's and Luna's perspective, the world around them was instantaneously robbed of movement and speed. Everything around them went static.

Luna's heart froze the moment she set eyes on who standing just mere inches from her. The room seemed to blur with only that figure in focus.

"You're going to live." The dead-certain tone in that person's voice was nonnegotiable.

Blaise looked from Draco to that someone who was standing in front of them back to Draco again; he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.

lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

**A/N:**

/////////////////**!!REVIEWING IS FREE, TRY ONE…NO CHARGE!!**///////////////////////

**(Thanks to those few caring souls who reviewed the previous chapter :kisses: )**

**You'd probably wonder if I'm crazy because days ago I've announced that this story would count with about 40 chapters in total and I've just killed Draco**** … well …let me clear your doubts right away: **

**I AM CRAZY ****(no surprise in there) AND THIS STORY AIN'T OVER YET, OKAY?!**

**I've killed Luna ****in the prequel, I've killed Blaise in chapter 21 and now it was mandatory to kill Draco in chapter 32 … WHY? BECAUSE I HAD TO! Neither Luna nor Blaise were the same after they came back… so… do you get the idea of what I'm talking about here?**

**There are aprox. 8 more chapters to go. Expect the worse because things would get sooo disgustingly dark that you won't see what's in front of your own nose. **

_About Harry's death:_ Why was so sudden and unexpected? Well, because I didn't want his death to cloud the importance of Draco's tragic fate.

"Those who want to live, let them fight, and those who do not want to fight in this world of eternal struggle do not deserve to live." – A.H.

"I'm called many names - (…), monster - but it's only when I'm fighting a _real_ monster that I feel truly human." – FMA

Since Alchemy is a science, it follows the natural laws. So, if we want to _gain_ something…something of equal value had to be _taken_ from us. ___ [Adapted from the original] ___"Alchemy is a science, so it must follow the natural laws: To create, something of equal value must be lost." – FMA

//////////////////////////////////////////

Okay, here's a brief resume of the story's time-line so far:

In **Chapter 1st **there's a lovey-dovey view of Luna and Draco's Honeymoon bliss.

Draco's temper is put on trial on **Chapter 2nd **when the couple visits the brand new headquarters of The Quibbler and Draco is interviewed.

In **Chapter 3rd** Luna's magic improves remarkably thanks to her private teachings - mostly under Draco's wing - but that's when the young couple have their first and most significant confrontation that pushed Luna to run away.

What happens in **Chapter 4th **spins around a nightmare that unleashed Draco's most terrible fears and also a secret message delivered by his dead mother, Narcissa Black. Blaise makes his appearance after his short absence.

**Chapter 5th** is centered in Luna and Neville's friendship once she returns to Hogwarts.

And that's when the story presents no more gaps in time, since the plot is knitted non-stop with the course of each day:

The arrival of Draco at Hogwarts took place on **Chapter 6th**, what happened that same night took place on **Chapter 7th**.

FIRST DAY of Draco's return: **Chapter 8th** (morning), **Chapter 9th** (afternoon and early night), the first part of **Chapter 10th** (late night).

SECOND DAY of Draco's return "Valentine's Day": continuation of **Chapter 10th** (early morning), **Chapter 11th** (late morning), **Chapter 12th** (early afternoon), **Chapter 13th** (late afternoon), **Chapter 14th** (early night), **Chapter 15th** (late night).

THIRD DAY of Draco's return: **Chapter 16th** (early morning), **Chapter 17th** (late morning), **Chapter 18th** (early afternoon), **Chapter 19th** (late afternoon), **Chapter 20th** (early night), **Chapter 21st** (late night)

FOURTH DAY of Draco's return: **Chapter 22nd** (early morning), **Chapter 23rd** (late afternoon), **Chapter 24th** (early night), **Chapter 25th** & **Chapter 26th** (late night)

FIFTH DAY of Draco's return: **Chapter 27th** (early afternoon), **Chapter 28** (late afternoon), **Chapter 29** (early night), **Chapter 30th** (late night)

SIXTH DAY of Draco's return: **Chapter 31st** (late morning), **Chapter 32nd** (early night)

Enjoy the reading and don't forget to owl your reviews!

Divinne


	33. Chapter 33

**!!WARNING!! **

**MORAL & SEXUAL "SO CALLED" DEVIATIONS AHEAD (yet again…)**

If I had to summarize this chapter in a few words I'd say:

"What's normal when feelings are involved?"

**CHAPTER XXX****III:**

"_When I see your smile, tears run down my face I can't replace  
And now that I'm stronger I've figured out  
How this world turns cold and breaks through my soul  
And I know I'll find deep inside me I can be the one  
I will never let you fall, I'll stand up with you forever  
I'll be there for you through it all, even if saving you sends me to heaven._

_'Cause you're __my true love, my whole heart  
Please don't throw that away 'cause I'm here for you  
Please don't walk away, please tell me you'll stay...stay  
Use me as you will, pull my strings just for a thrill  
And I know I'll be okay, though my skies are turning gray."_

_(THE RED JUMPSUIT APPARATUS – "Your Guardian Angel")_

Standing in front of Luna and Blaise was a six feet tall wizard wearing a long dark blue hooded cloak that was constantly swirling, as if made of a foggy liquid instead of cloth. Despite its considerable length the cloak seemed to never quite touch neither the ground nor his boots for it floated above the floor. Staring at it was quite disorientating already, adding to the fact that the room seemed to have frozen into a static blurry scenery, it gave a sense of even more unreality to the whole picture.

Once that enigmatic wizard stripped off that hooded cloak with a soft flick of his wrist – Blaise noticed that he hadn't used a wand, unless it happened to be invisible - his physical appearance struck Luna and Blaise with the same shocking impact.

He was a teenager about their age. His extremely slender physique was disguised with dark clothes that were a size or two larger for his frame. Despite the simplicity of that black wool turtle neck pullover and matching color flannel cargo pants, he carried them with sober elegancy and style.

His sleek, silverish shoulder-length blond hair was tied behind in a loose ponytail, leaving a few strands of hair falling onto his face framing that handsome porcelain face of sharp, bony cheeks and pointed features. Those dangerously hypnotic pearl-gray eyes of him held an incommensurable darkness. He was the vivid image of…

"Draco?!" Luna exclaimed without even realizing and that sent a shiver up her spine, freezing her in that kneeling position.

At first the blonde's face remained completely expressionless, as if being carved in stone, making Luna and Blaise feel extremely uneasy, but then he smirked brightly as if he'd just been complimented.

"He's _not _my brother." Blaise shot back clenching teeth and wrapped Draco protectively with one arm, the other was tightening the grip of his wand, ready to strike.

The moment the ponytailed teenager turned to look at him, the ice-cold sensation that washed over Blaise made him realize who that wizard really was. _"Scorpius..." _He said to himself.

"Ja, ich bin es: Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy" (i) The young wizard replied without blinking, this time his voice sounded even more threatening when he talked in German. Narrowing his intimidating pearl-gray eyes, he spitted out. "Ach, fass ihn nicht an!" (ii)

Without even realizing what had just hit him, Blaise fell backwards, releasing the grip of Draco in the process.

Scorpius then kneeled on the floor and hugged his father gently but firm, wrapping one arm around Draco's waist and other steadying his head before nuzzling into his neck. Blaise noticed that the teenager's face literally shined the moment he touched Draco but soon after that the light on those pale cheeks faded as tears started to form on the corner of Scorpius' eyes. Anguish threatened to drown the fainting words he was whispering to his father as Scorpius continued to hold Draco lovingly in his arms, kissing him softly on his closed-shut eyelids.

Lifting his unconscious father up in his arms, bridal style, he shot a disgusting look at the jet black haired Slytherin. "Mal sehen…sie sind Blaise. Kommt mit mir!" (iii)

Blaise felt being drawn out and examined. Getting frantic, he called out. "Wait! Where are you taking him?!"

When Scorpius turned to look at Blaise the second time, his gaze had the sharpness of a sword point and Blaise literally felt it pressed against his throat, preventing him from saying another word.

"I've said…Come. With. Me." Scorpius stressed on purpose the accent on every word as if addressing a mentally challenged person.

Pointing his finger at Luna, Blaise couldn't help but ask. "What happened to her?"

With a whistle – the way someone would call the attention of his pet – Scorpius addressed Luna without even looking at her. The dirty blond haired girl seemed to have snapped awake from a deep trance right after. She got up from the floor with shaky knees and stared at her surrounding with a blank look.

Blaise walked past Luna and snapped his fingers right in front of her eyes. "Hey, are you in there?"

"Am I dead?" She mumbled pitifully.

Mentally rolling his eyes - hoping for a blissful moment that was true - Blaise replied annoyingly. "No."

When Scorpius turned to look at Blaise this time, the hardness of his pale complexion relaxed and Blaise could see a spark of _something_ though it was gone as quickly as it came.

Biting her lip, Luna opened wide her amethyst blue eyes and leaned closer, whispering softly to Blaise. "You've died but you don't look like a ghost at all. How can I possibly see you?"

"Easy _love_, you're mental." Blaise snorted, tapping his index finger against her temple. "Add me to the list of your imaginary creatures."

Even with that slight physical interaction, Blaise's pupils swelled and Luna's memories began to speed like the shifting patterns in a kaleidoscope inside his mind:

"_There's something wrong with me, I don't feel like myself anymore!"_

"_Everything about you and me…being together...it's too much and it hurts. Can't you see that it'll consume us entirely in the end?"_

"_The baby hates me because he knows I'm terrified of him"_

"_Draco, my feelings for you are strong, yes, but we both know that I don't love you."_

At first, skepticism and denial haunted Blaise's facial expression, then - in a frantic and nervous fashion – he rubbed his eyes and tried to rearrange thoroughly his own thoughts before facing Luna and when he did, those pitch-black eyes burned with the fire of his discontent.

"Your mere existence revolts every single one of my sensibilities. Don't talk to me…don't even dare to _look_ at me! You hear me?!" Blaise spitted right into Luna's face before catching up pace with Scorpius.

With some of the drapes and tapestries from the Great Hall Scorpius transfigured wandlessly a sort of mattress – the size of a sleeping bag – and stripped Draco of that blood soaked duster, resting carefully his father over the cushioned surface. He then took off his pullover – revealing his lean muscled naked torso – and rolled it under Draco's head as pillow.

Rising his left hand, Scorpius made a fast flick of his wrist – again with no use of a wand – and closed shut every single one of the windows. The darkness of the room was soon illuminated by countless red and black candles suspended from the enchanted ceiling.

Once he cleared the room, sending flying tables and benches over a corner with another wandless flick of his left wrist, Scorpius finally produced his wand from one of the pockets of his cargo pants along with some flasks and headed towards the table on the very end – the Hogwarts' Staff table – using it as improvised altar for the rite he what he was about to perform.

Blaise eyed curiously the elements displayed over the altar and barely managed to say. "Scorpius, what…"

"This wasn't supposed to happen! How could my father get mortally wounded if he was surrounded by those he loved?" Scorpius' words denoted such an intimidating scolding German accent that made the hairs on the back of Blaise's neck stand up.

Humming angrily under his breath, he turned to face Blaise, those pearl-gray eyes distilled venom. "No matter how much he'd sacrificed himself, how many people he'd helped and saved or how many times he'd grant others a second chance to live…in the end _none_ of you are worthy of my father's company, love or mercy. You couldn't even protect him or keep him safe and you claim to _care _about him?!"

The all-white dressed Slytherin shivered looking visible guilty and ashamed.

"_If that asshole __hadn't told Draco that he indeed brought me back from the dead nothing of this would have happened. It's because of me that Draco lost his concentration and focus in a most crucial moment." _Swallowing down his angst and shame, Blaise confessed. "I'm the sole responsible for what happened. It's because of me that Draco is in this condition."

Seeing Blaise through his half-closed eyelids, Scorpius shot a look of pure murderous intent. "My father can't allow himself to have such pathetic and helpless weak spots: they're the dead of him."

Nodding silently, the other hissed. "Please tell me what it takes to save Draco. I'd do anything for him. What are you planning on doing?"

"What I always do when it comes to secure my father's survival." The ponytailed wizard opened wide his eyes and Blaise saw clearly the magnitude of his determination. "The impossible."

Blaise kneeled besides Draco and noticed that the bleeding from his mortal wound had ceased: the blond Slytherin seemed to be in an unconscious but stable condition.

"You've stopped time. That's why the atmosphere feels so different." Blaise acknowledged with fear.

Grabbing the Time-Turner that hanged around his neck by its chain, Scorpius spitted out. "When time is against you, what else can you do?"

A cold shiver blended immediately with a striking realization inside the jet black haired Slytherin. "Time-Turners can't _stop_ time, they can _turn_ back time or..."

"This one can. I've fixed and improved it myself." Arching one accomplished eyebrow, he cocked his head to the side and pointed at the third extra ring around it. "This is what stops time…for a limited period though."

Shaking his head with admiration, Blaise said. "You are a very powerful wizard, kid."

"I'm Draco Malfoy's son." The ponytailed blond replied bluntly as he finished mixing the content of one of the flasks inside a cauldron and a strange colourful emanation started to come out of it.

"You're my son?" Luna asked gasping soundly in between happy tears, rubbing her stomach.

Both young men spun their heads in unison, seemed that they'd completely forgotten about her being there. Scorpius stopped abruptly what he was doing; an empty flask slipped from his hand and got smashed against the floor. Blaise repaired on how Luna's closeness had thrown Scorpius completely off balance.

Taking a step back, Scorpius seized Luna from head to toe with a revolting face. "Get away from me, don't come any closer."

Luna looked at her son smiling with a mix of sadness and apprehension as tears started to fall down her cheeks. "You're my baby and I love you."

Scorpius' pale face transfixed into a disgusting frown. "No, you never loved me. What you feel for me it's… it's… _disgusting_!" He finished gasping soundly, by then his cheeks went green.

"I don't understand." Taken aback, Luna withdraw her hands from her belly and bit her lip, she looked confused, deep in thinking.

Moistening his pale lips with the tip of his tongue, Scorpius smirked bitterly. "I know every little thing about you and that's exactly why you've resented me all your life. My father lived a lie his entire life because he loved you and trusted in you but all he received in return was the slow and lethal doses of your bitterness. I'm the only one who can see you through your deceit and for what you truly are: poison."

Luna shook her head to the sides, wrapping her arms around her, unable to bring herself to speak.

"My father gave you a second chance to live, yet all you ever saw was the blood in his hands." Taking a step forward, the blond confronted Luna as his pale face darkened. "You hypocrite, the night he saved you it was because you agreed. He showed you the rite's dagger and he confessed that he was willing to do the unthinkable to save your life and you accepted it: you told him you wanted to be saved! My father never _ever _forced you to do anything you didn't want to!" Scorpius finished, spitting his words out.

A stream of tears rolled down the dirty haired blond girl.

Scorpius narrowed his gaze; his voice was low and menacing. "You can't manipulate me the way you do with him. Your fake tears won't do the trick with me, so drop the act right now. Stop placing yourself in the role of the victim and open your eyes once and for all, dare to see beyond your own selfishness. It's because of you that my father is giving up. You've taken away his desire to fight for his life!" He finished curling his hands into tight fists, mastering with all his might the urges to harm her physically.

Blaise pursed his lips tight and found himself reliving the words Draco said shortly after he lost conscience:

"_Snape once told me that __life itself is complex beyond our understanding. That didn't stop me from finding an answer myself. To live is to love. Love is a feeling impossible to define for there are countless ways to express it. Love is so complex and life is so harsh and distressing that many manufacture or conjure up fantasies about love like oases in the desert and run to them, desperate to find a reason to live for. Fantasies are not always fantastical, but they certainly contrast with reality, but reality itself is sometimes so theatrical that fantasy becomes a desire for simple things." _

The jet black haired Slytherin missed a beat when it all slowly started clicking inside his head._ "So that's why Draco refused to tell me how to save him? He knew that Luna didn't love him and he preferred to let himself die instead?"_

"No, that's not true!" Wiping the tears with the end of her blouse, Luna cried even harder. "I do love you, both of you!"

"Liar!" Scorpius then whipped a piercing stare at Blaise and spitted hatefully. "I was born prematurely because I could barely make it to the seventh month inside that loveless vessel! You'd better keep her away from me or I'LL SHUSH HER MYSELF!"

After what he'd witnessed previously from Luna's memories, Blaise's eyes grew wide with understanding and immediately after that he cast a sleeping spell on Luna and rest her carefully over a bench.

Walking the short distance between them, Blaise's pitch-black eyes got fixed on that shirtless teenager next to him. Just like his father, Scorpius had a meager musculature and his velvety smooth ivory skin seemed to have never been exposed to the sun.

Blaise went clammingly still when he denoted two long reddish threaded scars – of about fourteen inches length - that traced diagonally Scorpius' back and went from his shoulder-blades up to his waist forming a V shape. There was another, a painful slashing scar, smaller – about eight inches - but better healed up crossing his plain stomach and a very small scar of half an inch above the blonde's left eyebrow.

Feeling those curious pitch-black eyes all over him, Scorpius arched annoyingly his scarred eyebrow. "Like I've said before I was born prematurely so I'm not as good healer as you three, but my psychic magic compensates for my physical disabilities."

Stabbing his index finger in the air, the all-white dressed Slytherin said with a shaky voice. "I've seen similar scars marked on the flesh of some Death Eaters I've killed, but not as fatally serious as yours. An extremely powerful Dark Magic did those."

"Indeed." Scorpius replied in a-matter-of-fact tone.

As Blaise started to wonder about those scars, he shook his head twice, dismissing immediately one of the many theories that flashed inside his mind, cursing under his breath.

"What happened to you?!" He demanded to know, holding a growl from surfacing.

The blond turned to face him – they were almost nose-to-nose – and stabbed his pearl gray eyes onto the pitch-black darkness of Blaise's eyes. "How dare you insult my father's good name with those loathsome, repugnant thoughts of yours?! How could you've balanced, even for a split second, the idea that he did this to me?!"

Blaise's eyes opened wide as saucers. "Holy shit, you can read what I'm thinking?!"

Rolling dramatically his eyes, as if having to explain the obvious – a gesture that reminded Blaise of Draco's - Scorpius replied with a tired smirk. "Yes and I can also access to people's memories but, unlike you, I don't need to touch them...not _physically_."

Blaise felt as if he was balancing on a high wire, trying not to fall. "That's why you're making me look into your eyes...you know I can tell when people speak the truth."

"You're a con man." Scorpius replied bluntly. "People hide themselves behind their words. It's disappointing to find out how fake and deceiving they truly are. It's obvious someone your kind would have doubts about me. You're used to lie and betray. But I'm not the one who's being tested here. Next time you happen to soil my father's irreproachable reputation with such nefarious demeanor, I'd kill you." The ponytailed teenager said with a calculating, harsh tone.

The jet black haired Slytherin gulped soundly, that had been a direct and most solemn death threat.

With a wandless flick of his wrist, Scorpius started aligning the candles on the altar as he mastered a tense but calmer voice. "I've watched over my father my whole life and this is not the first time I've prevented him from dying. I have to make sure the most powerful wizard in the Wizardry World survives in order to fulfil his destiny. The death of Voldemort and defeat of the majority of his followers only rised the anger of those who survived and swore vengeance. With the Elder Wand my father's magic has no match. He's the only one who can grant the balance and restore the order everybody is so desperate to find in this world. If my father happened to die then the centre of gravity of the Wizardry World would start to fade. Without him to support it all, everything would fall apart."

Blaise stared in silence at Scorpius, understanding – completely horrified - every word. He sent a stricken worried look at Draco before returning his attention to the ponytailed teenager.

Following Blaise's thoughts, the blond ducked his head, staring at the hourglass that hanged from his neck. "It's my duty to watch over him."

Worry and a mixture of other undefined feelings flashed across Blaise's face before being able to understand them all. "Duty?" He repeated absentmindly.

One thing still remained clear to Blaise: it should be the father's role to protect a son, not the other way round. Something was wrong with that picture, Draco should be the one risking his life to save his son, but then – as it slowly clicked inside his head - he realized that to be proud, meticulously obsessive and self-sufficient was part of Scorpius' credo as well.

Refusing to look at Blaise this time, Scorpius started. "There's nothing wrong with putting all your heart and effort into protecting the one you love, it gives..."

"It gives you a purpose to live and makes you cherish your own existence in the process, yes." Blaise finished the sentence for him.

Blaise then leveled his pitch-black gems with those pearl-gray gems in front of him in a pensive manner, wondering how far deep exactly Scorpius' feelings for his father went.

With a harmonious flick of his wand, Scorpius physical appearance changed completely. Blaise's eyes opened wide as saucers, inspecting closely the small boy – of about twelve years old - who was in front of him dressed with the Ravenclaw's uniform. His silk blond hair was short and his eyes were of an intense blue.

Scorpius gave a smirk of practised innocence. "I had no option but to disguise myself while keeping an eye on him and no, I'm _not_ a Ravenclaw. This was just a façade: I'm a Slytherin too."

"Of course you are." Smiling knowingly, Blaise rolled his eyes. "Even with that disguise you look _exactly _like Draco when he was that age. I can't believe how he could have skipped that!"

After returning to his original form, Scorpius brushed with the fingers of one hand his sleek, silverish shoulder-length blond hair and that action made escape even more strands of hair over his face from that loose ponytail of his. "I'm just too vain to disguise completely my physical appearance. Luckily my father had a lot on his mind to have noticed the resemblance. But many people, on daily basis, refuse to acknowledge the obvious, exploiting denial as a self-defence mechanism. You should know, the woman who raised you is one of them."

Blaise chuckled bitterly noticing that not once Scorpius addressed Luna as _mother_. "I'd never got along with my mother either."

Copying the other's tragic gesture, the blond snorted but kept silent for a while before shaking his head, getting rid of unwanted thoughts.

His pitch-black eyes, full of concern, searched Scorpius pearl gray gems. "And who takes care of _you_ in the meantime?"

The terror on Blaise's face made Scorpius almost laugh inside.

Blaise still wanted to inquire about those scars - inflicted by extremely powerful Dark wizards without a doubt - but he refrained from touching the subject…for scarce seconds though. "Draco doesn't know about them, does he?"

Scorpius sneered and replied evasively. "We all make choices. I've got no regrets."

With a mixture of worry and resignation, the other mumbled. "Can't deny you take after your father, you talk just like him."

With an ice-cold murderous smirk, Scorpius leaned closer. "My father taught me everything I know. All those who dared to stand up against the two of us ended up dead. I've probably must have filled the cemetery's communal grave by now. I always mark the bodies of my victims with a magical seal: three spinning red circles. If you see that seal on a dead body…then you know that bastard had been decorously taken care of."

Seemed that answer had quieted Blaise's racing heart for a couple of minutes, but then a worried frown wrinkled his temple.

"I've seen those Seals myself over countless of dead bodies. Draco told me that only a wizard with a dark magic power matching, more likely _surpassing_, the one of Voldemort's would be able to kill that many people all at once and that it'd require an incommensurable devotion in the heart towards the loved one to be able to cast those seals in such gigantic number." He paused and his pitch-black eyes widened as saucers. "So it was _you_ the one who killed _all_ those motherfuckers?!"

The ponytailed wizard managed a tight nod and pulled one stand of hair behind his ear.

"Bloody Hell kid, you're _good_!" Blaise's eyes sparkled with monumental admiration.

Scorpius sneered mischievously. "We Malfoys are not good but _great._"

Blaise smiled with relief, taking advantage of the blonde's good mood, he said. "You're risking your life on daily basis and Draco doesn't know shit about it. This is wrong."

The blonde's face was instantly deprived of every single trace of emotion. "With your empathy everything becomes twice as difficult to endure. You're still too attached to your weaknesses and that's what's confusing you."

"Half the time I don't even know why or how I'm doing the things I do with my magic. Isn't it hard for you having this ability? I mean, is there a way to stop perceiving things from others?" Blaise stared numbly at his hands, remembering the time he touched Hyperion and when he accidentally bumped with some of the Death Eaters he fought against and caught glimpses of their devious lives, making his stomach flip inside with burning sickness.

"That's because our spirits, souls and bodies are so energetically _pure_ that any sensory experience becomes an exercise in excess." Decanting the finished potion into a small silver bowl, the blond rubbed his sweaty forehead with one hand and replied tonelessly. "Yes, there's a way to get rid of it, or more likely control and direct it properly to your advantage, and that's to get intimate with someone."

"_That makes sense. A true and deep physical __connection would lead to the taming and blending of magic essences, the lost of all purity but also the achievement of something even grater that makes the loss of the self completely worthy."_ Blaise said to himself, sending his mind flowing with countless of other knitted thoughts.

"No, I haven't." His pearl-gray eyes darkened, replying once again Blaise's unspoken question. "That's why my energetical magic gets chaotic from time to time. No matter how hard I've disciplined myself, I can only achieve a temporal control over it. That's exactly what reminds me that human nature is imperfect and it's not up to me but up to someone else's willingness for me to achieve completion and permanent stability. But things haven't come up my way so I'd stay like this, incomplete, until the day I die." There was a tint of resentment and anger trimming Scorpius' voice.

The blond then pointed with his wand at the floor, creating what seemed to be two large oval shaped depressions on the stone floor of about ten feet depth and twenty feet width.

"Aguamenti!" With another gracious flick of his wrist one of the depressions was immediately filled with water.

A sharp stab of loneliness struck Blaise, wondering how Draco's son could have grown up into a boy of such close personality - so opposite of Draco - or maybe not _that _different.

"One day you'll fall for someone special and that _ability_ of yours would be history." Blaise soothed him with a parental tone.

"I didn't say that I'm not already in love, because I am, with every fiber in me and I yearn for that person's touch. It takes a single brush of that hand to make me lose ground. I want more of that touch…all over me." A sad expression gripped Scorpius' face for a moment before he shook his head as if to rid himself of an unwanted thought.

Blaise raised a concerned brow, wondering if Scorpius was prisoner of an unrequited love, and that thought alone made him stop thinking all at once. "You should probably hate my guts."

"I can't blame you for falling for with my father." The ponytalied blond replied with striking sincerity, making Blaise blinked twice at him in surprise.

Turning to face Blaise, he counted with his long fingers to emphasize his words. "You're his best friend, secret keeper, right-hand man and the one my father chose not only as brother but as his equal. It's understandable that you had the faith of becoming his lover as well."

Blaise bit his lip, he felt his face burning.

"My father once told me that friendship is a contradictory thing. The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him your friend. Since he'd know exactly when and where to strike, he'd help you sharp your wit, keep you alert and focus at all times." Scorpius then narrowed his eyes, granting his gaze an ice-cold sharpness. "He was talking about you."

"Yeah, there's no doubt about that." The jet black haired Slytherin then started to perspire profusely, he chuckled nervously. "One of the privileges of being a friend is being able to stay beside the one you love. Draco means the most to me. I've promised myself that I'd never hurt him again. I don't want him to hate me and push me away. I couldn't stand living without him."

"You keep promising yourself that but you don't speak with conviction." Crossing his arms over his bare chest, with a serious but also intriguing look, Scorpius asked. "What made you believe you could force my father into doing something he didn't want to?"

As he rested his pitch-black gaze on Scorpius, Blaise's voice diminished its tone into a painful hiss. "I was acting irrational, lost in the thrill of the whole situation. I didn't stop to think what I was doing. But Draco forgave me and treated me as equal despite I deserved to be disposed off like garbage."

The way the ponytailed blond looked at him, holding such devastating darkness, made Blaise's knees start shaking. "You deserved to be treated worse than wormfood. It was _you _the one who looked down on my father that whole time, you realize that now?"

Squeezing his eyes shut, Blaise hissed supremely ashamed. "Yes."

After nailing both tight fists on the table, Scorpius closed shut his eyes. His breathing was starting to get agitated.

"Is there really a limit to how much a person can love another?" The ponytailed wizard asked and Blaise wasn't sure at first if he was expecting an answer or not.

Pursing tight his lips the jet black haired Slytherin stared at the blond in silence for a long moment. "No, there is not. That's why it's so dangerous when it's a one-sided love." He finally acknowledged.

Keeping the tip of his tongue between his teeth for a moment, calming himself down, Scorpius confessed. "My father loves me…but he doesn't desire me. That's the reason why I'll die with my ability intact."

A frown creased the jet black haired Slytherin's face. "You've got a disturbingly direct way of talking, kid."

With an immutable face the other replied. "I know. I get that a lot."

Scorpius then pointed his wand at the table and called out. "Holy art Thou, Lord of the Air, who hast created the Firmament. Holy art Thou, Lord of Fire, wherein Thou hast shown forth the Throne of Thy Glory. Holy art Thou, Lord of the Waters, wherein Thy Spirit moved at the Beginning. Holy art Thou, Lord of the Earth, which hast made for Thy Footstool!"

The geometrical figure he'd just traced over the tablecloth of the altar started to grow and change by itself as its five vertexes aligned into a perfect pentagram - projecting itself over the walls and floor – and the whole room shook from its founding with a deafening crushing thunder storm sound.

"I still can't believe I'm having this conversation with you: you're Draco's _son_! I don't even know if this is okay, you're a kid, I mean..." Scratching nervously his chin, Blaise asked truly embarrassed. "How old are you anyway?"

"I'm fifteen, two years younger than my father and you are now." Scorpius sneered coldly, studying Blaise with a clinical eye. "Despite the fact that my father and I are _physically _alike, that didn't fool your feelings, not even once. There's no trace of desire coming from you when you look at me."

"I'd never mistake anyone else for the one I love." Blaise said out loud and his cheeks blushed all shades of red.

"That's what had stopped me from killing you right away, you know? Disregarding their age or gender, all those who dared to eye me lusty ended up six feet under. All except from one person who happens to be the one my father adores." The blond shot back raising annoyingly his scarred eyebrow.

Blaise's eyes opened wide in shock, he wasn't sure he heard correctly. He turned to look at Luna for a moment and then spun his head towards Scorpius; his jaw came undone. "You mean..."

"I've meant exactly what I've said." The ponytailed cut him abruptly.

"Well, your physical alikeness with your father might have fooled _her_ you know: blood does burn easily. Anyway, how could she ever develop any deep-rooted feeling for him if she doesn't know Draco in the least?" Blaise started talking out loud without noticing but then something struck on the back of his head – was it empathy? - and his next words sounded more like a way to explain Luna's attitude. "She was in shock…I mean…she'd always been a basket case …and with everything that happened…"

Snapping out completely, Scorpius growled. "She's the sole responsible for letting things happen all over again! I've came back in time the night my grandfather meant to kidnapped her. I've hidden my face behind a mask so that she wouldn't recognize me and confronted her on the cemetery field. I warned her about what would happen if she committed her same mistakes all over again. At first she wasn't listening to a word I was saying and kept fantasizing about me, her lust made me feel sicker by the minute! And then, when I refused to be touched she got mad at me and ended up stigmatizing my flesh!" He accused pointing at the slashing scar that traced diagonally his flat stomach.

Blaise's eyes widened in shock, the tendons of his neck stood out, this time the surge of hatred towards Luna erupted like a volcano. _"That fucking bitch!"_

"She not only hates me but also lusts for me! I couldn't make her pay for what she'd done because not only I'd have blown up my cover and my father would have found out that I've been using the Time-Turner but because I'm not allowed to rise my wand against her. Now you understand why I can't stand being in the same room with that woman? She'd never learn! She keeps making the wrong choices over and over again! She's the sole responsible for my father's misery…she deserves what The Fates got in store for her!" His eyes burned blazing red, making every hair of Blaise's body stiff in terror.

Pacing the floor back and forth, the ponytailed wizard shook his head. "Why would you excuse her if you can't even stand the sight of her? You're forcing yourself to get along with that woman because that's what my father wants you to do, right?" The blond demanded to know, his voice denoted a bubbling tension but also a marked confusion.

"I…" The jet black haired Slytherin stammered but then snap his mouth shut immediately, he felt like a complete idiot. "Yes."

"I see, you're in my same situation. My father loves her and that makes her untouchable." Scorpius paused. Narrowing his pearl-gray eyes, he leaned closer with a pensive manner. "I admire your blind loyalty towards my father. You're willing to do everything he asks you without questioning. That's the reason why you've died in first place. He told you to protect her, and you did it, you've kept your word. But right now you're planning on killing her the moment she gives birth to me. Now that I get to know you in person you're not exactly what I've expected you'd be."

Feeling a drop of sweat running down the side of his temple, Blaise asked. "Is that a good or bad thing?"

Sneering coldly, the blond confessed. "Both."

Scorpius then started pacing around Blaise again with a deep frown wrinkling his forehead. "My physical resemblance with my father is as precise as your psychological resemblance with him. You're as complicated and contradicting as him and you're also fighting an inner battle within yourself…just like my father. No wonder why he'd chosen you as his equal."

Rubbing his eyes with two fingers, an unpleasant thought found its way into Blaise's mind. "I can't get off my head that you can read so openly my feelings for Draco and even perceive everything that's going on inside my mind. I feel like I'm going to lose it. No offense kid but it's _so_ difficult to have a conversation with you."

"You're an interesting person to read. You know a lot of things about my father's past, even more than my grandfather did and that's…intriguing." Ducking his head to the side, Scorpius pursed his lips tight. "Your memories are quite unique, specially the ones you've shared with my father. They're incredibly vivid, rich, colorful and extremely detailed. I can perfectly perceive them with my five senses. I never knew he was like that." He finished, fluttering his eyelids half-closed as if immersed in a trance.

Looking beyond puzzled, Blaise couldn't help but ask. "Like what?"

"Even if it was brief, there was a time in his life when my father was happy." Scorpius lips curled with the shadow of a smile. "It's comforting to know that he got the chance to experience what true happiness was before losing his innocence."

"I guess we all enjoyed a share of blissfulness when we were small, naïve brats…" Lifting his pitch-black eyes from the floor, Blaise asked curiously. "What about you, do you have childhood friends?"

"My father had always been with me, I never needed anyone else. I don't have friends or enemies for that matter because being perfectly honest inevitably hurts and insults people. Everybody prefers to be lied to, it makes their lives simpler…_easier._" The ponytailed teenager's voice held annoyance for a brief moment before it turned smooth as silk. "My father is the only person I enjoy talking to and being around with. The feeling is mutual. He knows that I'm the only one who'd never lie to him. When I'm not with him, then I'd rather be left alone."

"Since we became brothers, we both can read what we're thinking, but only because we allow the other to do so..." Blaise paused, trying not to look _that _curious, but the bubbling anxious tone in his voice was evident. "Can you read Draco's mind at all times?"

"I can read his mind, but not at _all_ times. That's why I'm constantly watching my father, studying him, trying to understand the reason behind every little thing he does..." Scorpius' eyelids fluttered subtly, his lips parted slightly with a vengeful smirk. "…to come up with a way to make him forget once and for all what he feels for that woman."

Blaise found himself sweating despite himself and gulped soundly. "Can Draco read your mind too?"

"My father respects the privacy of those he cares about. Whenever he wants to know something, he prefers to ask." Arching his scarred eyebrow, smirking devilishly, he added. "I don't share that point of view of his but, just like you've said the very first moment you saw me, I'm _not _him."

Whatever flashed inside Scorpius mind at that time was without a doubt something Draco would definitely be better off not knowing about it.

Lifting both arms above his head, in deep concentration, the ponytailed wizard spoke again. "Holy art Thou, Who art in all things, in Whom are all things. If I take the Wings of the Morning and flee unto the uttermost parts of the Sea, Even there shall Thy hand lead me and Thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Preadventure the Darkness shall cover me, even the Night shall be turned light unto Thee! Thine is the Air with its Movement! Thine is the Fire with its Flashing Flame! Thine is the Water with its Flow! Thine is the Earth with its enduring Stability!"

Drops of the tincture from the small silver bowl rose in the air and began tracing Ancient Runes over Scorpius' bare chest, shoulders and arms.

"The medallion you gave Draco…" After a sound sigh, gratitude then colored the voice of the jet black haired Slytherin. "It saved my life, you saved my life."

"My father was the one who saved your life. Twice." The ponytailed wizard stopped, he seemed reluctant to continue. He then paid attention at the finished Runes traced on his body and suddenly got stricken by other thoughts. "That Swastika charm spared him the humiliation of becoming the godfather of Granger's bastard, erasing in the process the tragic fact of me having to cope daily with an insufferable half-blood lapdog whose favourite hobby was to get her nose in everybody's business except her own." The mere thought of Rose made Scorpius' stomach turn in itself with a bolt of nausea.

Hearing those words entangled immediately Blaise's gut. "Draco did _what_?!"

"Can you blame him?" Scorpius shot back venomously while eyeing the sleeping Luna sourly from the corner of his eye. "After spending that much time close to a disturbed and mentally unstable woman, it kind of grew on my father."

Noticing a slight fluctuation in the atmosphere around him, Scorpius checked the Time-Turner around his neck and immediately after that his facial features hardened.

He walked past Blaise without looking at him, and kneeled besides his father. Scorpius stripped Draco of his shirt and wrapped his arms around him, lifting up his father's skinny upper body into a sitting position, taking care that Draco's head rested smoothly against his lean torso.

Grabbing tight his wand in his energetical projective left hand, Scorpius traced a clockwise circle of white light around him before drawing other smaller geometric figures, one inside the other. Once completed, the outer circle held a triangle, inside it there was a square, then another inner circle – Scorpius and Draco were in it – just on center of the complex multiple figure. The traces then started to blend with yet other geometric shapes, elemental symbols and astrological signs. Each portion of the circle meant to represent the various elements and forces needed for Scorpius' magical work in the quest for physical transformation and spiritual illumination of his father.

Scorpius looked up at Blaise, the pupils of his eyes dilated in full and the pearl-gray color in them darkened, giving him an intense, almost hypnotic look. "I've just _squared the circle_ as indication of my wish to bring an ideal harmony of the elements for my father to find his way in this chaotic world, introducing directions and coordinates. The center of the circle represents the center of the self, a central point within the psyche to which everything is related and arranged. The center is itself a source of pure energy and Light."

"Why do I have a strange feeling about all this?" Blaise's voice was trimmed with the angst of his aching grief.

The ponytailed blond then threw at Blaise a very intense - about to be brutal- piercing stare. "We cannot take without giving first, that's how mother-nature works. In order to achieve the unification of the elements, bonding the limited with the unlimited and reach true enlightment, the blackening, the burnout of all impureness must follow."

"Scorpius…you…" Blaise spun his head towards the water mirror and the unfilled depression next to it and connected the dots inside his head. His heart missed two beats as his eyes widened in awestruck realization. "Holy shit…you're offering _yourself_ as sacrifice?!"

Without paying attention at Blaise, Scorpius ducked his head, flashing a confident smirk at Draco. "The instant my psychic magic and physical strength blends harmoniously within my father, he'll come out walking victoriously from this circle and nothing would stop him from fulfilling his destiny."

"Saving Draco's life would not only drain your magic and energy but also rip you away from your humanity, drowning you in eternal darkness!" Suppressing the urge to gasp for breath, Blaise sucked in air with desperation. "This is literally going to kill you!"

"I won't die." Scorpius scarred eyebrow creased with a serious frown. "I'd become part of him. This way my father and I would be together, like I've always wanted."

"You crazy little brat! Just as lunatic as your mother and as hopelessly extreme as your father! FOR FUCK SAKES, THIS IS MADNESS!!" Blaise screamed, but his protest was cut off with a striking pressure on his heart. His pitch-black eyes squeezed in pain, his spiritual wounds re-opened, his bleeding heart started aching once more.

Blaise's over-the-top hysterical concern about Scorpius' wellbeing puzzled the blond at first, but then his pale face transfixed with pure hatred.

"Haven't you heard a single word I've said?! I won't let my father die! None of you foulsome, worthless, despicable worms can save him!" He spitted out, his voice dripped with the venom of his wrath.

"You are useless! Get away from me and my father!" With an imperceptible flick of his wand, Scorpius sent Blaise flying backwards across the room.

The jet black haired Slytherin smashed his back against the wall, pieces of rock and glass fell from the walls and windows over Blaise, half burying his body.

Bowing his head - contemplating the unconscious figure of his father resting against him - Scorpius' lips parted slightly, speaking words meant for Draco's ears only as tears started to fall down his cheeks. Scorpius kissed again his father's close-shut eyelids before resting his forehead against Draco's temple.

Smiling sadly, lovingly at his father, Scorpius grabbed Draco's right hand in his - fingers enwirled - lifted and pressed it against his own bare chest, close to his heart. Stifling his ragged, hollow sobs, Scorpius kissed repeatedly Draco's hand until he felt his own chaotic breathing smoothed, his pounding heartbeats stopped and dropped to a perfect flat-line.

Dangerously and fearlessly determined, Scorpius then wrapped tighter one arm around Draco and aiming high his wand with a firm grip of his left hand, he called out. "By the power to me committed, I, Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, ordain the Throne of the West, symbolising the failing Light, to lead the soul of my father, Draco Malfoy, to the full Light in the end where no shadows are cast and Darkness does not reach. Keep strict watch of his soul after all the evils have vanished from him so that they never enter again!"

The pentagrams traced on the walls and floor of the room lighted up with intense and bright white colour and from the multiple geometrical shaped circle came out swirls of multicolour blinding lights and surrounded both Scorpius and Draco in their luminescence.

"I invoke the guardians of the Throne of the North to sprinkle, cleanse and wash with the living water which purifies the whole creation the mortal frame of my father, Draco Malfoy!" He commanded as the water mirror in front of them started sending into the air iridescent water drops, caressing and rolling down Draco's skin, washing slowly his body.

"In the manes and the letters of the mystical Tablet of Union, I invoke thy, forces of the unseen to strengthen and inspire me so that I may enter the faithless depths of Hades with no fear in my heart and no doubt in my spirit. I, Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, offer myself as sacrifice in order to grant the perfect equilibrium of my father's immortal soul and the triumphant restoration of his earthly frame! May my command and will be heard, infuse Draco Malfoy with spiritual power and Light, grant unto him the brilliance of eternal splendour!" Right after that Scorpius felt as if his entire body turned into liquid flame.

Scorpius could barely breathe through the sensations. His body was burning with heat, glowing with power. Then he was wracked by consecutive bolts of excruciating, hot, blind pain that threatened to torn his body in pieces. The agony was so intense within him that he felt his life slipping through his fingers like water. He heard demonical laughters, taunting and mocking voices past his ears telling him to let go of his father and save his life instead. Scorpius refused and wrapped his arms tighter around Draco determined to offer every speck of life in his body to save his father. The last thing Scorpius saw before the darkness took over him was Blaise stepping inside the inner circle, reaching out an arm, struggling with him to let go of the unyielding hold of his father but to no avail.

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**A/N:**

Okay…okay… I know Scorpius' appearance might have caused a HUGE controversy but…THAT'S EXACTLY THE POINT! YAY!

Never read a Scorpius' fanfic before (in fact…as strange as it might seem…I hardly read any HP fanfictions at all… probably because I'm so focused [narrow-minded maybe?] in the way I've made up the characters inside my head that it shocks me to read them otherwise. I even got spooked the other day while re-reading D.H. I guess it's because I've placed Draco in such an unreachable almighty God-like podium that it's difficult for me to see the JKR canon…is this bad?!? I wonder...) So - rounding on the matter again – regardless I'm clueless of how other fans might have depicted Scorpius what you've just read is only a glimpse of who this striking blond is in reality (inside my mind, obviously!!) Come on, he's Draco's son!! I'm so going to pour all my evil mind in the making of this character!

YES! There would be a chapter that would explain in detail (and reveal what truly happened) the encounter of Luna and Scorpius the night Lucius kidnapped her at the cemetery field (that would fill the missing gap in the time-line between the end of chapter 25 and beginning of chapter 26) but it won't be revealed just yet… so wait patiently!! (I can hear you!! No cursing pretty please!!) My intention is to uncover things as Draco discovers them… in a fair attempt to build the tension, the mystery and get under his skin :yummy image flashing: anyway… where was I? Dammit! Lost track of what was I thinking just yet… my bad!

SPOILERS NEXT CHAPTER: Draco would be definitely in it (miss you so much baby!!) so don't despair people!!

SEVEN CHAPTERS TO GO (aprox) AND THIS STORY WOULD REACH ITS END SO THERE'S STILL A LOT TO COME!!! STAY TUNED, CHECK OUT THE UPDATES & DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!!

Those who got questions or/and are a bit lost with the twisted plot…feel free to owl me your doubts & questions. I don't want anyone to miss a single thing but…IF YOU STILL CAN'T SPOT THOSE LITTLE CRUMBS OF VITAL INFO THAT'S REVEALED IN EVERY CHAPTER ONCE YOU REACH THE END DON'T SUE ME IF YOU'VE GOT CAUGHT UP IN A PANICK ATTACK OR SUFFERED A STROKE BECAUSE I'M BROKE!! (Rhyme?!) WHETHER YOU DON'T SEE IT COMING OR ALREADY FORESEE WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN ONE THING IS CERTAIN: IT'S GONNA MAKE YOU CRY!!! THE QUESTION IS: WOULD THEY BE HAPPY OR SAD TEARS?? WELL…IT'S UP TO YOU!!

(i) "Ja, ich bin es." (German Language): Yes, it's me.

(ii) "Ach, fass ihn nicht an!" (German Language): Alas, don't think about it/don't you dare!

(iii) "Mal sehen…sie sind Blaise. Kommt mit mir!" (German Language): Let's see…you are Blaise. Come with me!


	34. Chapter 34

**A/N:**

In order to become a true Malfoy it's essential to have unquenchable ambition, strategic manipulation, a passionate heart, unbreakable strength and a brilliant madness that burns as bright as crimson blood.

////////////////REVIEWING IS FREE!! TRY ONE!! //////////////////////

**CHAPTER XXXIV:**

_"I had visions, I was in them, I was looking into the mirror  
To see a little bit clearer the rottenness and evil in me  
Fingertips have memories, mine can't forget the curves of your body  
And when I feel a bit naughty, I run it up the flagpole and see who salutes  
But no one ever does…_

_I'm not sick but I'm not well and I'm so hot 'cause I'm in Hell  
I'm not sick but I'm not well and it's a sin to live so well!_

_Paranoia, paranoia! Everybody's coming to get me, just say you never met me  
I'm running underground with the moles, digging holes  
Hear the voices in my head, I swear to God it sounds like they're snoring  
But if you're bored then you're boring, the agony and the irony, they're killing me!"_

_(__HARVEY DANGER__– "Flagpole Sitta")_

Draco opened his sore eyes but there was nothing but darkness and a silence as permanent as death. He rubbed his eyelids with two fingers and forced to open his eyes once more, blinking hard, but the place remained pitch-black.

Picking himself slowly from the floor, he dragged his tired legs forward and started walking, stretching his arms blindly to the sides in circle motions, trying to make some sense of his surrounding.

"Hello? Anybody?" He asked and heard his own voice resounding on the place with an echo, getting louder with the passing of the minutes.

Draco clamped his teeth and pressed both hands over his ears until the atmosphere regained its quietness. Once it was silent again, the blond Slytherin refrained himself from speaking another word out loud and started walking blindly, with unsure steps, waving both hands clumsily in the air, like a blind man without his cane.

Biting his lip, the blond stopped on his tracks abruptly_. "Now I get it: I'm dead and all __that's left is darkness… Darkness it's not only the absence of light but also what remains of the self after death. Eternal darkness and solitude with the only company of my own echo….without a doubt this is an infernal torture, but it could have been a lot worse." _

"You're hurting my feelings, have you forgotten about me already?" A harsh voice called out loud, this time the echo didn't follow.

Draco's body tensed as he recognized that voice, it was from Lucius. _"Guess I judged things way too soon." _He concluded bitterly.

"I'm here too." The elder spoke again and the place was immediately lighted up with an intense white-blue light.

Standing opposite Draco was a man in his early forties, silverish long hair, ivory skin, piercing smoke grey eyes. He was expensively dressed, with a dark burgundy cloak over his black and silver accented two pieces suit. Draco was right, that man was no other but his father: Lucius Malfoy.

Draco's eyes traveled the windowless black-stone built place, it resembled more like a tower of an ancient castle than Hades. There were no sign of burning flames but he could still feel the heat – the atmosphere was a suffocating one actually – yet no painful screams from the tormented souls, no devilish creatures lurking around…it was all so…

"_D__isappointing…so disappointing..." _He stopped and looked at his father;a slight malicious smirk curled the blonde's lips. "Never thought I'd be welcomed to Hell by my own father, I'm touched."

"Your father is dead, I'm not." The old man paused, there was a serious frown wrinkling his temple. "You're still alive and the reason I'm here is because you're afraid."

That comment seemed to have not only wounded Draco's ego but also confused him. "Am I _dreaming _all this?!"

There was a long pause between them before the elder spoke again. "Dreams are created out of some dis-ease, aren't they?"

"DAMMIT!" Letting go an angry, mad, frustrated yell, Draco stretched both arms before crossing them behind his neck."Then why am I not dreaming about Luna instead of you? Why does it always have to be a traumatic nightmare? I'm going to spend eternity in Hell without her and I can't even fantasize a little before I die? I'm so pissed off with my brain right now, why can't I be mentally distressed in a more _primitive_ level?!"

"Because you've always suppressed your most basic instincts and having such a lousy and uptight lover only made things worse for you?" Lucius paused and looked up at the blond with bitter disappointment and disgust. "The more you suppress your body, the more you'd suppress yourself. When you fight with the body, you're fighting with yourself. Sometimes you push sex down, and sometimes sex pushes you down. It becomes a vicious circle. You can never suppress sex. So much confusion is created then that it becomes… suicidal."

Tension was building over Draco's shoulders. He opened his mouth and screamed in denial. "Someone like you would never understand what it's like to be a _man_ at all! You've not only used and abused countless women but also tortured and kill your own wife blaming it all on your so called uncontrollable sex drives. You're not a man, you're an animal!"

"I've already told you that I'm _not_ your father." The elder Slytherin gave a tired sigh before continuing. "Fine, Lucius wasn't an example of a _man_, point taken, but neither are you."

Draco stood there with a blank expression, wanting to get rid of some unwanted feeling from clouding his eyes.

Lucius' face then frowned, studying Draco with a cold gaze. "You were not only denied but also rejected by your wife in every way possible too and the death of your brother left you on your own devices. Finding no reason or motive left to carry on with your life, you still wanted to make something _productive_ out of your misery and you've come up with a masterplan. This way your death would not only bring your brother back to life but also set your wife free from your bond." Pausing for a dramatic effect, the elder then started laughing mockingly. "You wanted to die so badly that it ended up backfiring you! I pity you. I really do."

The young Slytherin felt the pain, rejection, alienation and dismay that tainted the waves of cold air around him. Shrugging, he wrapped his arms tight around himself.

Draco's voice gained some strength and he rised his head to look at Lucius again. "I'm done with being tested. I've got nothing to prove to you, whoever you are."

"Why do you punish yourself_?_" Lucius asked without expecting an answer. "That's what people would always say when you want to find something and you're looking very hard. You'll try anything, _anything_, just to find out, and if nothing is available, you go out and force yourself to look and because you force yourself, these people pin a label on you: _you're a masochist, why do you punish yourself?_ Can't you see that the more you want her, the more you chase after her the more she would elude you? The more interest you show, the more the object of your desire would repel you. This is because your interest is too strong and that makes her feel awkward, even fearful…and it makes you weak, unworthy and pathetic!"

Looking hatefully at each other, Draco picked up immediately what the man was trying to arouse in him and he didn't want to hear the rest of that monologue.

"I've learnt that nothing lasts forever. I've got no regrets: I've lived life at its fullest and I'm happy with it." Draco acknowledged with a winning smirk.

"You've _never_ been happy." The man shrugged, waving carelessly a hand in the air. "What is happiness anyway? Is it expectation, hope, desire…a dream maybe? No, happiness is a flickering absence of misery."

As more dark and hateful facial expressions were exchanged between the two, finally Draco couldn't take it anymore. "I've loved and I've hated with the same aching force I've been worshipped and despised. I've suffered a great deal but inflicted others twice the pain. I've been deceived but I've also outwitted the best. I've lost many times but won a great deal more. I might have died young but I've experienced all the joys and endured all the ills life can grant."

"Make the lie big; make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually you will believe it". Arching a skeptic eyebrow, Lucius asked. "You've said you've _loved_? I say yours was just a mere infatuation. When you love someone and that someone becomes totally yours, love will die soon; but if there are barriers, if you cannot have the person you love, the love becomes intense. The more the barriers, the more intensely love will be felt and if the lover is impossible to get, the so called _love_ becomes eternal and turns into an ego problem. The more you're denied, the more tense you'd become and the more infatuated. So what you said it was _love_ you felt for your wife, it was just delayed sex."

"I've loved Luna for who she is!" Draco was hyperventilating; he clamped his teeth to prevent himself from crying out his boiling anger. "I've loved her for being so complex and yet so simple, for the way she's true to herself and_ nothing_ ever bends her, not even me! Being around her made me feel stronger, like there's nothing I couldn't do, there were no limits I wouldn't cross and barriers I wouldn't break as long as she was by my side. That's why I couldn't live without her: I couldn't live without my life!"

"Do you really think that anger will make your speech more convincing?" Those pearl-gray eyes of Lucius held challenge and ferocity. "When you're angry, your anger goes to others, so does your hate and your love. But one moment there is love, and the next there will be hate. Hate is not the opposite to love: it's just part of the package…a continuity."

"I don't hate her." Draco's answer was immediate, but hesitation was evident in his voice.

"I'm feeling beyond insulted here. Do you really think you can fool _me_?!" The elder asked, annoyance tainting his voice.

"Who _are_ you?!" The young Slytherin snapped irately.

The frantic tone in Draco's voice fueled Lucius amusement, he arched a darkly brow and replied with a hiss. "I can be anything… _everything_..."

Terror gripped Draco's face, he wavered for a moment, opening and closing his mouth several times.

"The devil himself." Those words squeaked out of his mouth before the young Slytherin could stop them.

Lucius let go a creepy laugh, his incredibly pale cheeks blushed with a vivid pink shade. "I'm flattered!" He chuckled, combing back his long silk white hair. "But no, I'm not him either."

Feeling unscrupulously inspected by those piercing pearl-gray eyes, Draco switched to his I-couldn't-care-less mode and turned his back to the man. "Whatever."

Narrowing his piercing cold eyes maliciously, the elder spitted out. "I can't tell you who I am because I can't come up with an answer myself!" He looked angry.

Draco's guts twisted oddly inside and felt his muscles tensing. He spun round, his eyes dilated with the same speed they swelled.

"The original source of all tension is _becoming_, it's between that which you are and that which you long to be." Lucius' gaze was locked determinedly on the young Slytherin as his words spitted the venom he could no longer hold inside. "Tension means that you're not pleased with what you are, and you long to be what you're not. The more the gap between what you are and what you want to be the greater the tension."

Draco wiped a hand over his eyebrows to remove some of the perspiration. But it was quickly replaced by more.

"I can be Potter's enemy…a treacherous Death Eater… a weak, pathetic excuse of a son..." Lucius started pacing around Draco and his physical appearance evaporated into the incorporeal ghost form of the Gray Lady. "…a jealous and controlling lover, selfish or selfless, nasty or nice, serious or frivolous…" She paused, and Draco felt as if an ice-cold finger travelled the back of his neck.

Shivering in disgust, Draco took a couple of steps back and once the ghost leaned closer, a pair of almond eyes were staring right back at Draco, it was Hermione the one who continued talking. "…or probably the only Slytherin who cares about others besides himself…"

But her image shrunken and morphed into the figure of a twelve years old silk blond Ravenclaw boy – the way Draco saw Scorpius, still in his disguise – and with a heavy German accent on his voice he confessed. "…the wisest, bravest man..."

Draco shook his head, clearing his foggy vision as another person came into view: it was Slughorn.

"_Bloody Hell, not him…__anyone but him!"_ The blond lamented himself, humming under his breath as he pressed his hands over his ears and saw the old man's fat lips lecturing him with a scolding look.

But then Luna appeared and the moment Draco meant to touch her, she shot back with a hateful frown. "…inhuman…testosterone-pumped heartless monster…" Then Blaise acknowledged. "…irrational … God-like almighty bastard…" And it was Voldemort who confessed. "…the only wizard who could raise the dead…"

Draco felt his head exploding in agony and he slumped to the ground. Covering his head in between his shacking hands he screamed at the top of his lungs. "STOP!"

"It's always wise to know one's enemy, whether this is another individual or, worst of all, part of oneself." Snape sentenced with a whip-lash voice.

The moment Draco slowly picked himself from the floor and looked up it was professor Binns who finally acknowledged. "You've developed a dormant duality within yourself: you're both an executioner and arbitrator."

The blond Slytherin found himself standing in front of the Mirror of Erised as a faceless voice echoed on the walls:

"Mirrors have the power to disturb us, gazing at our reflection in the mirror we might often see what we want to see but that's because we're not looking closely enough. If we do look hard at the reflected image, we might then feel that we are seeing ourselves as others see us, as a person among other people, an object rather than a subject. That makes us feel mocked, cloned, an image without a soul and we get angry because that's when we realize that we are nothing but a _thing_!"

Draco stared at that naked body in front of him and the corpse looked back at him. Those pearl-gray eyes were the only signs of life in that emaciated, bony face. That ribcage was so accented that when breathing the movement of every rib threatened to rip that fragile layer of clammingly sick ash-white skin. Those thin stick legs looked incapable of holding the rest of his body up. Recognition shot through Draco like a cold splash of fear: it was his own body. He looked away immediately refusing to acknowledge the damage.

Staring right back at him - from the opposite side of the Mirror of Erised - the _other _Draco crossed his arms over his skeletic chest. "Why are you looking away? Do I disgust you _that_ much? That's funny. You did this to yourself."

Draco lifted his head, guilt eating violently at his mind. Their eyes met, and they were the same, and yet still not the same. "I've left many things behind, my health included, but what's worth the price is always worth the fight and I've _won_! I've procured my own freedom!" He said clenching fists.

Those pearl-gray eyes that measured the world in reverse narrowed, shooting a bewitching look at Draco. "I don't think you know yet whether you want to live or die. There's no better time to stop and walk away than after victory, right? That's why you're letting yourself die. You know that if you keep going you might end up being defeated. Are you sure you've crushed your enemies into nonesxistence?"

"Yes!" Draco sentenced, exposing his bony and unmarked left forearm towards his reflection.

The other smirked faintly, still staring fixedly at Draco. "I'm not talking about the enemies you hate, but the ones you love."

Unable to stand having those eyes focused on him, Draco dropped his gaze. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Liar." This counterpart tilted his head to the side and pressed his lips together.

A crushing pain whipped through Draco's mind like lightning. Wrapping his arms and hands around his head, he tried in vain to block it but not to avail.

"The unconscious is always in conflict with the conscious. The conscious is under control and the potential, the unconscious, is not. You can manage the conscious, but with an explosion of the unconscious you will be in insecurity. You will not be able to manage it, that's the fear of the conscious…_your_ fear." His reflection stressed the word and Draco's clammingly pale face creased into an ugly expression.

"I'm not afraid of _anything_! You're the one who's trapped inside that mirror, not me!" Draco pressed his dark-blue lips into a thin line, the darkness of his pearl-gay eyes contrasted against his ghostly pale skin.

"You really, _really _hate losing control of a situation, don't you?!" Pure rage flared on the eyes of the_ other _Draco. "Can't you see that _I_ am _you_?!"

Draco's heart pulsed with despair, his tired muscles tightened and protested with such amount of nervousness, but he ignored them.

"You might _look_ like me, but you're _not_ me." Draco replied, giving the other blond a nasty glare of his own.

Noticing the building tension on the Slytherin, his reflection sneered coldly. "The mind creates opposites because how else would you conceive and understand the concept of something without weighting with its opposite? That's why you can understand what evil is because good exists, that's how you can differ love from hate, and so on…however, this division is not a truth or a reality but a _convenience_ of the mind."

Breaking the barrier of the mirror, the _other_ Draco stepped outside the bevelled glass, halting mere inches from the blond. "So now you'll start to play a game of chess with yourself, and you shall play until you've completely lost track of which piece belongs to which, of what belongs to what, of who belongs to who until the game is over."

Both blond Slitherins were nose-to-nose shooting piercing hateful looks at each other, but the sound of familiar voices forced Draco to spun his head and look behind his back.

"Hear that?" His counterpart looked beyond amused. "Both your brother _and_ your son are fighting to pull you out of here."

Draco turned round, his pearl-gray eyes lit up first with surprise but then he panicked. "My son?!"

"He's your most fervent admirer, enthralled by your power, your strength, your psyche, your personality but most important of all by your _mystery. _The mysterious cannot be grasped. It excites the imagination, invites constant interpretation, emanating desirability in the process, seducing into believing that it conceals something marvelous. Your son's fixation with you won't stop once he's born. It would develop in a more subtle, more cunning but also more dangerous way." His other self pointed out decisively.

Draco hesitated as he thought back. "Those Dark Magic Seals of Vengeance…"

"Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy is a remarkably powerful dark wizard with a perpetual, ardent and fervid devotion in the heart towards his object of affection…his very own father!" It was evident the _other _Draco was reaching his limit of boiling patience. "That's actually old news, your mother already alerted you about that! You should've listened to your brother more often too. He was right when he warned you about the consequences of looking only at what's convenient and ignoring everything else!"

Draco's mouth settled into a hard line of dark blue pressed lips, he was looking very, very desperate.

"All this time my son had risked his life to protect mine and if he's here, that means he's willing to sacrifice himself for me. I won't let him do that, I'll..." Draco started, abruptly interrupted with a snort-like sound coming from his counterpart.

"You idiot." The other sounded disappointed with the blonde's reaction. "Scorpius has an acute survival instinct." He said bluntly.

The horror didn't fade from Draco's mind as another crushing realization came to him.

"No, not Blaise." The despair bubbling in Draco's voice was suffocated then by a choking pleading tone. "Not him."

His counterpart narrowed his pearl-gray eyes, leveling that merciless stare at Draco, making a chilly and unpleasant tingle crawl up the blonde's spine. "Talking about your _brother_…there are no such things as coincidences only inevitability. There's a reason why your mother forced that encounter so that you and Blaise would meet."

With those words in mind, Draco found that his throat was oddly dry.

"He's your soul-mate, the one with an equally powerful magic source but from an opposite essence than yours..." His other self paused and rolled his eyes dramatically, just like when having to explain the obvious. "Yes, I'm talking about Blaise, the one you brought back from the dead!"

"I did not…" But Draco was abruptly silenced with a vicious slap on his mouth.

"STOP LYING TO YOURSELF!" The _other _Draco roared, grabbing the blond by the throat with both hands. "STOP HIDING BEHIND YOUR LIES! DAMMIT!" But his angry scream soon lost all its intensity as the rage in his face switched with raw detestation. "Blaise died, why did you have to bring him back? You should have let him rot and become wormfood!" He accused, shaking Draco violently.

Draco pulled away forcefully from the choking grip and sucked his breath in sharply between his teeth. "If I refused to give up on Blaise was because the moment I did it, I would have ended giving up on myself too."

"This obsession you two share to save each other's guts, the way both Blaise and you keep sacrificing your lives for the other, nothing good would ever come from it: just blood, pain, anger, guilt and even more sexual tension." The other blond concluded, underlying his sarcasm.

"He's my brother, my family." Draco uttered the words with a slow and tired voice.

"You were so desperate to find a place in this world and procure the _perfect _family that you didn't repair on the consequences of your actions." The other blond looked down on Draco, disgust filling his mind. "You're responsible for your son, your brother and your wife, yes, but not because they're your _family_…they're your _mistakes_!"

"No, they're not mistakes." Draco's voice was broken, not much more than a whisper. His words sounded false even in his own ears.

His other self stared unblinkingly with hateful eyes at Draco. "Hell is truth seen too late."

"The three of them are part of me." Draco paused, his voice was rasping through his dry throat in a painful breath. "If they're mistakes then I'm one too."

After a moment of hesitation the other blond shook his head. "As long as you keep denying your true nature, you'd end up being worse than a mistake."

"You mean as long as I keep fighting my _darkness_." Draco said with an unsteady voice, stressing that last word with both fear and resignation.

"You've lost your chance of redemption." Narrowing those enraged blood-shot eyes, his counterpart snorted. "As your soul-mate, Blaise was born to balance the nature of your magic and complete your essence. If he couldn't grant you the power of his Light before was because you've already got the curse of Luna's Lifespan Seal in you and now that it's gone you're facing yet another misfortune: Scorpius could claim your soul. You've sort of_ promised_ it to him…along with your body."

His other self could see a spark behind the blonde's pearl-gray eyes as the realization struck through Draco's mind.

Draco frowned as a memory caught up to him. That hot, blind puncture striking his heart the moment he promised something to whom he thought he was Luna:

"_You can ravish me anytime, anywhere, anyhow. I'm all yours, always will."_

"_Is that a promise?" _

"_I swear." _

Draco looked away with an uncomfortable expression, looking beyond sick. He then clutched his head with his arms as tight as he could.

Immediately after that a soft child-like voice started echoing on the walls:

"Little finger promises, tell me all of your dreams, disregard all of your doubts, believe, believe they would be true, little finger promises, hold on all of your dreams, they could be come true, someday, somehow, I know that. In the little finger promises we promise to try it, we promise to reach it till we find a day that we meet again and we have got it all and those all are our little finger promises, hope all of our dreams will be come true someday."

Staring numbly at his little finger, Draco forced his next words with a shaky voice. "I've linked my soul with Scorpius by the Red Threads of Destiny on your little fingers." The moment he spoke he felt the ice-cold air rasping his dry throat.

His counterpart started pacing around Draco, speaking with an unemotional lectured tone. "An invisible red thread connects those who are destined - in this case _forced -_ to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break. But since you've promised it thinking it was Luna, the curse didn't take full effect. Yours and your son's heart and soul are cursed, yes, but they're _linked_ to each other, not fully _bonded_. So it's not a complete imprisonment, but certainly a restrictive leash you two share."

With those words in mind Draco remembered what his mother had told him:

"_Your heir will grow up to be an extremely intelligent and powerful wizard, yes, but the possibilities of finding happiness away from your side would be scarce. That will be mainly due to the fact that your child would either refuse to open his heart to others or because no-one would ever stand a chance to outbeat the feelings only you are capable of arousing in his heart."_

"That's why Scorpius would never find happiness away from my side." Draco then squeezed his eyes shut, tears started to fall from his cheeks in spite himself. "I'm the sole responsible for my son's misfortune!"

"Nah-ah!" The _other _Draco urged waving his little finger in front of Draco's eyes. "That's exactly what Scorpius was looking for! This damn insignificant little finger is the one with the major vein that carries blood straight to the heart_. _What did you think provoked you that heart-attack when Blaise confronted you? You were considering your brother's words, thinking about the scarce possibilities you've got left to find happiness and strong feelings aroused inside your heart."

Draco shook his head, trying to clear the swirling thoughts that came crushing inside his skull. "I was right. If it weren't for Blaise I'd have died of a stroke."

"If it weren't for Blaise you wouldn't have had that heart-attack in the first place!" There was a deep frown of concern on Draco's counterpart, he looked deep in thinking. "Tell me, how would you define exactly your feelings for him?"

Draco's pearl-gray eyes lifted slowly to meet those other matching gems. The other blond looked burdened.

"He's my equal. I love my brother as much as I love myself." Draco replied immediately without even have to think about it.

Pursing those thin lips in a tight line, his counterpart said with a worried tone in his voice. "You've always been incredible self-centered."

Crossing his arms over his skeletic chest Draco inquired with an uneasy smirk. "What's the problem with that?"

The other Draco arched one annoyed eyebrow and shot back. "That's exactly what Blaise is: a problem. By feeling the way you do about him you're hurting yourself. You cannot allow be so closely attached to Blaise or anyone for that matter because if you do, if you develop strongly deep emotions for someone…you'd die." The other blond let got a puff of air, looking visible pissed. "Scorpius not only wants completely ownership of your soul but also of your heart. He's the one who doesn't want _you_ to find happiness away from _his_ side!"

Draco's face transfixed then with horror but kept silent he merely shook his head to a side, avoiding confronting his counterpart's judging stare.

"_Scorpius is not to blame for what he'd done in his unborn form. He is the victim."_ Draco said to himself as he wiped his watery eyes with the back of his hand.

"You are a fool and that particular utterance was the height of your stupidity!" His other self roared. "Your son had defeated you the same way you've outsmarted Lucius, and he did it while he was still inside his mother's womb! How does _that _make you feel?" He snorted as he kept seizing Draco from head to toe with a tragic frown.

"He's my heir. He's supposed to outbeat me." Draco replied with a usual quiet, distant voice.

The _other_ Draco smirked sourly, combing with one hand those damp silk blond curls from his feverish forehead. "Both Blaise and Scorpius have an incredible strong and pure energetical magic. You know as well as I do that something _pure_ isn't inherently _good_ but unaltered and unblended. They are looking forward to blend their magical energy with your essence. That's why they desire you not only physically but also in a psychic level. You're the only one can unleash the potential in them by taking away their _purity_ and at the same time you'd obtain part of their magical powers: you'd become unstoppable!"

Draco gulped imperceptibly, drops of cold sweat started to fall from his forehead. "That's out of the question. I'm not going to _use_ them. I won't take anything away from any of them!"

"Why not? Both are more than willing to give in to you. Sooner or later the magical connection you share with them would win you over and you'd crave to dominate them in search for the power they can grant you." Tapping one finger on the side of his sweaty temple, in a pensive manner, his counterpart reflected out loud. "If your son pulls you away from here the curse of the red threads of destiny would develop then into something more threatening than a taboo: the combined dark magic of you two could literally bring the End of Days…if you don't destroy each other first…hmmm…tricky…"

Draco's heart missed two consecutive beats, his pupils dilated in full, taking all in. He couldn't stand on his two feet any longer. He collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath.

Focusing his thoughts on the present, Draco's mind raced at the speed of light. "My son gave me the Swastika charm to prevent my darkness from rising. The nine stones in it represent the nine elements of the Runic Elementals: the power of fire to grant energy and purify it; the power of ice to clear the mind; the power of water to balance and achieve permanence of things; the power of wind to feel both light but strong at the same time; the power of salt to keep, nurture and preserve life; the power of iron to grant unyielding strength; the power of yeast, that's the force of inspiration and spiritual rebirth; the power of venom to defeat impurities; the power of earth, that's the combination of the other eight, it's in itself the power of manifestation."

His other self nodded, but Draco saw the reluctance in his counterpart's eyes. "Fire and ice are forces that are equal and opposite in nature, as are yeast and venom, and water and wind. Salt and iron are complementary forces, similar in nature but different in approach. Earth has no balancing counterpart amongst the other elements for it's internally balanced, composed entirely of balancing forces, but..." He paused, staring at Draco for a long moment before continuing. "The power of fire consumes energy, reducing it; the power of ice immobilizes and conceals the potential, inducing to inertia; the power of water, in its unstoppable flow, agitates the mind; the power of wind is unpredictable and euphoric, it grants not only change but also chaos; the power of salt is dry and uncomfortable; the power of iron is inflexible and hard; the power of yeast is bubbly and ferment, prone to create distraction; the power of venom is the power of death, used in all sort of destructive acts, to end things; the power of earth might feel solid, deep, living yet inert."

Draco remained quiet and silent, digesting those words as his eyes turned hard while the eyes of his other self denoted his single-minded determination.

"There are more things the charm destroys than the ones it protects. What if Scorpius gave it to you because he wanted to make sure Luna's Lifespan Seal would endure long enough to prevent your soul-mate's Light from getting to you? What if Scorpius wanted to stop you from completing your essence and balance your magic until the moment he was ready to take both your soul and your heart for himself?" His other self accused and hunched forward, he was then scarce inches from the blonde's face.

There was something that didn't fit, Draco shook his head. "Without the charm I wouldn't have been able to save Blaise. Why would Scorpius go through all that trouble and help me save my soul-mate then?!" There was a marked desperation coloring his voice.

"Scorpius helped you to save a Malfoy. Blaise Zabini was your soul-mate and he _died_." The other replied bluntly, stabbing those piercing pearl-gray eyes to Draco before adding. "The moment you've decided to share your blood with him, Blaise was reborn as a Malfoy. And don't forget that he also came victoriously from the other side of the veil at a _Justified _one. He's a complete different person; you've seen what he's capable of doing with his magic now."

Looking reflexive the other blond continued to walk around Draco. "Think about the advantages of taking away the_ purity_ of Blaise's energetical magic… hmmm… that would be interesting. Trouble is he's got an ego complex and he's the one who wants to dominate you. But his desperation is a blinding one… and that gives you an advantage over him. He said he'd let you break him, right? So you'd better let him know that if he wants you, he'd got to be the one who'd submit to you."

In his sitting position Draco shrunken into a ball and curled his arms protectively over his head. "No, I've said I won't do it! I won't use any of them! I don't crave that kind of power!"

Draco could hear both Blaise and Scorpius calling out his name and that made him feel more restless.

The _other_ Draco then brought one hand to his ear. "There they are again, getting closer." Fluttering his eyelids, he purred. "Just hear those heart-breaking pleadings coming from both of them. So passionate, so devout and self-sacrificing are those two fuckers. Oh…yes…they're indeed desperate: they want you badly."

Anger gave Draco the energy to jump to his feet. He turned to face his _other _self and spitted right into his face. "You bastard! Stop conspiring and stop speaking ill about my family! SHUT THE FUCK UP!!" He snapped out completely with a hoarse scream of denial ripping though his throat.

The blond Slytherin's knuckles went whiter – if possible – as he clenched his right hand into a tight, compressed rock fist. With a lighting fast move, Draco threw a punch into his _other_ self, connecting it straight into the jaw, sending the other blond crushing onto the ground.

This counterpart covered his mouth with both hands, shooting a pissed-off look at Draco.

"Wooohooo!!" Draco cheered with a hoarse, cracked voice lifting both arms up on the air like a winning boxer. "I always wanted to know how it felt like to be punched by me. I _knew_ I'd never disappoint myself!"

The other blond Slytherin smirked bitterly, spitting blood. "How did the ricochet taste like for you?"

"Metallic…sort of like licking the lid of a copper cauldron…but warm and deep in consistency..." Draco acknowledged as he past his tongue around his lips, a crimson thread started to fall from his mouth as he spoke.

Despite the fact that Draco could register the sensory information in his body, he found trouble digesting it a hundred per cent. He felt as if he was alive, but not quite. His mind could perceive the world inside his head with his five senses, nevertheless everything seemed otherworldly.

His other self regrouped himself and twisted his head around until his neck popped. "What are you waiting for?" He made a subtle gesture with one hand for the blond to come closer.

"Who do you think you're _playing_ with?!" Draco paused and looked at his other self, his pearl-gray eyes darkened. "If I kill my unconsciousness then I'd wake up and I don't want to!"

"I see…you want to die but I want to live. Don't you want to see your precious wife again and give her a ride? Hmmm…I wonder if you'd die of a stroke too because_ you_ say you're in love with her but _I_ say your feelings for her is a mere infatuation…and deep inside you know that I'm the one who's_ always_ right." The_ other _Draco paused, there was a dark smirk curling his lips. "So fucking her would represent no risk whatsoever but I'd suggest you'd take a couple of lovers as well. Prospects to have fun once you're out of here look good after all, don't you think?"

"I'm not going to do neither of those things because I won't go back! I'm here to stay and die!" Draco replied annoyingly.

The other blond stilled for a moment and when he spoke, his voice oozed with detestation. "And _you_ call yourself Draco Malfoy?! Shame on you! You not only refuse to dominate your brother or your son but also refuse to fuck your wife too?! No wonder why those two fuckers are so hopeless and your wife is a frigid cunt!"

Draco's pearl-gray eyes brightened a bit as a ghost of a smile appeared on his lips. "I'm dominating _you_. Without me you can't do _anything_. I'm the conscious, remember?"

"You can't stay here." His counterpart said quickly with a nervous edge on his voice.

"Yes, I can. Forgot already that if you know something, then I know it too?" Arching one amused eyebrow, Draco spitted out. "We're tree in here, only one has to die as sacrifice so two can come out alive: I chose to stay!"

His other self looked at Draco incredulously and started laughing hysterically. "Those two are determined to save you in spite of sacrificing their own lives. They won't listen to what you've got to say in the matter. There's _nothing_ you can do. Understand this once and for all: you're a _thing_, even to them!"

No amount of screaming in rage could heal the frustration Draco felt at that moment. Of course Scorpius and Blaise would do the unthinkable to save him.

"You told me that you were here because _I_ was afraid." Draco looked back at his other self and for the first time he felt they were the same person, both sharing the same unpleasant sensation. "This means that _you_ are afraid too."

Reluctantly, his other self nodded; his pearl-gray eyes were reddening with impotence and rage. "There comes a time when men like us have to make the most crucial decision of all: kill our own flesh and blood." He said, quoting Lucius words.

"Why would I want to destroy something beautiful?" Draco smirked brightly, pride tickling his voice. "In order to become a true Malfoy it's essential to have unquenchable ambition, strategic manipulation, a passionate heart and unbreakable strength."

Frowning hatefully, the _other_ Draco spitted out. "The moment one of them pulls you out from here, you've got to take advantage of his needs. Use him to empower your magic and then kill him because if you don't, after blending your magical essences, you'll both get enslaved in an unbreakable bond!"

Rubbing his sweaty forehead, Draco narrowed his eyes, seeing this other self through his eyelids. "No. I'm not going to kill any of them. Both my son and my brother have all those aforementioned qualities except for the fifth and most important of all: a brilliant madness that burns as bright as crimson blood. I'm in an advantaged position against them…I have all five."

This counterpart stared deep into Draco's pearl-gray eyes. "You've got to kill the one who'd end up rescuing you!"

"Nah-ah." Draco mocked his other self with a smirk of practiced charm while giving him the finger. But a potent and strident crushing pain inside Draco's mind forced him to grab his head with both hands.

"Fuck you!" Draco gasped in between deep breaths.

"Couldn't have said it better myself." His other self sentenced with a low and breathy voice as his eyes darkened completely and his mental touch pressed harder than ever in Draco's mind.

As he watched his counterpart walking towards him, Draco instinctively stepped back, but found that he was having trouble moving, his stiff and sore muscles were aching with pure exhaustion. He fell to the floor, shaking slightly as his other self bent down and captured the blonde's face in his long bony fingers.

"Don't be scared, I'm not your enemy." His other self whispered and Draco could feel that hot breath warming his lips.

A vein was already throbbing the side of Draco's temple. "There's _nothing_ I wouldn't do for my family: I'd die for them…over and over again!"

This counterpart's long fingers ringed tightly Draco's neck; his face held a soulless murderous look. "Your death wish won't reach fruition."

"The ultimate power…is the power…to get people…to do as you wish." Draco panted painfully.

The lips of the _other _Draco then curled into a merciless smirk as he accented with his head, his eyes were cold as ice. "Yes, the ultimate power is to know how to influence the thoughts, behaviour and feelings of others directing toward the attainment of a specified goal."

"Glad to hear we agree in something." Draco sneered, arching a playful eyebrow. "I'm staying."

Draco spun his head towards the spot he heard Scorpius and Blaise voices were getting louder, he tried to control the rush of adrenaline pumping through his veins but that didn't stop his pulse from racing.

"Time has come to play the final game: focus only on yourself and leave out all the rest." The other blond grabbed Draco by the back of his neck, using his long, snaky tongue to force Draco's lips apart, fucking its way between Draco's teeth with calculated savagery. Every muscle in Draco's body stiffened as this counterpart's tongue worked its way into his mouth.

Draco then felt an ill wind descending upon him, he sensed evil looming closer, he sensed his own darkness starting to blend with him._ "No! I don't want it!"_

Clamping his teeth hard - breaking forcefully the kiss - Draco pulled away desperately panting for air. He grabbed his counterpart by the shoulders, pushing his other self against the floor, smacking the head of the other blond against it. "What part of _no _don't you understand_?_!"

Groggy, feeling sick, his counterpart rubbed his head, grimacing from the aching pain. "You're not being rational. Can't you see that if we join forces and blend together into one again we'd make it alive from here? As long as we remain separate the chances of dying increases by the minute!"

"To be rational and reasonable is not enough, not anymore." Draco stopped, feeling his voice getting stuck in his throat. He coughed once, and shook his head to clear it. "The irrational must have its own corner to exist. In order to be reasonable you've got to be both rational and irrational."

Draco could perfectly see the anger and frustration in his counterpart's eyes. "This is war."

His breath rasped painfully through his dry throat as Draco desperately tried to draw oxygen. "I'm the conscious, if you harm me we'd end up alive but brain-dead." He replied calmly as those words stricken something inside his mind_. "Now that I think about it, it's not such a bad idea. This way it'll be pointless for Scorpius and Blaise to try to drag me out from here."_

"WHAT?! You're going to kill ourselves while being in here?!" The other blond panted for breath as the adrenaline that pumped in his veins made his whole body shake. "I've already told you, I want to live!"

Draco shook his head tiredly, remembering Luna's words:

"_All this pain proves only one thing: we were never meant to be together. The more we deny it, the more we'd suffer. Draco, my feelings for you are strong, yes, but we both know that I don't love you."_

"There might be a lot of reasons to live…but I've got none left to stay alive." Draco finally said, his voice was just a whisper.

"I'll get to them first." His counterpart studied Draco for a moment and then continued amusingly. "You can't stop me."

"Don't." Draco opened his mouth to say more, but nothing came, when he looked at his other self again, his face darkened. "I won't let you get near my brother nor my son. I won't let you encourage them to sacrifice their lives for me."

"Tough luck." The lips of the other blond then curled into the most mischievous and cunning smirk ever. "I always get my own way."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

**A/N:**

////////////////**REVIEWING IS FREE!! TRY ONE!! **//////////////////////

**THE WAIT IS ALMOST OVER!!! HARRY POTTER & THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE IN THEATRES JULY 15TH!!!!**

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**"There are no such things as coincidences only inevitability." – XxXHoLiC / TRC**

******"Little finger Promises" - fairyfairus(dot)wordpress(dot)com/littlefingerpromises**

**"Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it." A.H.**

**"Hell is truth seen too late." Henry G. Adams**


	35. Chapter 35

**!!WARNING!! **

**MORAL & SEXUAL "SO CALLED" DEVIATIONS AHEAD**

**This is the lengthiest chapter I've ever written and the reason is because Scorpius is the darkest and most interest character ever. It was both a challenge and a delight to write about Scorpius the way I've pictured him inside my evil and rotten mind of course****… :smirks: **

_**I hate to repeat myself, but here I go again:**_

_**If you like (or dislike) what you're going to read, owl me a line or two as review. **_

_**It's not too much to ask, is it?**_

**CHAPTER XXXV**

_"I'll tell you something, I am a wolf but I like to wear sheep's clothing  
I am a bonfire, I am a vampire, I'm waiting for my moment  
You come on like a drug, temptation waits  
I just can't get enough, here's to your fate  
I'm like an addict coming at you for a little more, don't say it's over  
And there's so much at stake, temptation waits  
I can't afford to wait, I heard you say  
I've never needed anybody like this before, don't say it's over  
I'll tell you something, I am a demon, some say my biggest weakness  
I have my reasons, call it my defence, be careful what you're wishing  
You are a secret, a new possession… I like to keep you guessing."_

_(GARBAGE – "Temptation Waits")_

Peeling themselves from the hard surface beneath them - composed of pebbles, sand and dry leaves - Scorpius and Blaise sit up, shivering, breathing deeply as they acclimated themselves to their surroundings. It was an abandoned, depressing and deserted playground. It felt like no one's been anywhere near in ages, there was a small playhouse built over a tree that missed its roof and one of the walls. The chains of the swings lied on the floor as well as their broken wood seats, seemed that only one of the slides remained barely standing. It was quiet, no sound really existed there. Both Slytherins could only hear their own breathing, and the subtle roar of the blood rushing through their ears.

As he dusted off the dirt from his immaculate white t-shirt and pants, Blaise looked around with a disoriented frown. "This doesn't look like one of Draco's memories." He said quietly to the blond.

"Those were a protective psychic shield my father had created, diversions meant to prevent anyone from getting to him. But now that his magic seemed to have decreased considerably, he's no longer able to hide behind them." Scorpius replied as he brushed some sticky leaves from his naked torso and cargo pants and lifted up from the floor.

Blaise stood up, still lost in confusion, but still worried remembering Draco's last words:

"_See you one the other side brother, until then…live and protect my heir. I know Scorpius would grow up safely…with his uncle…by his side."_

The blond looked beyond curious yet cautious observing the place from his unique perspective. "This is how reality is conceived inside my father's dying mind: it's a dream."

A curious chilling breeze blew across their faces and both young men drank it in.

Blaise's eyes fluttered briefly. "It feels incredible vivid."

"The mind has the power to convince the body that anything done inside a dream is actually happening." Scorpius' voice trailed off, he saw a flickering light momentarily blinding him. Like hypnotized, he found himself walking towards that direction.

"Wait." Placing himself in front of the blond, Blaise confronted him. "When I touched your forearm earlier, trying to pull you away from the entering in here, I've read through your death wish. I know you won't allow anyone or anything step in the way to save your father's life, but Draco would _never _let you sacrifice yourself for him. That's why he'd been hiding from us: he knows we're here and he doesn't want us to find him."

Once his vision cleared the ponytailed wizard took a deep breath and shot a stabbing stare that pierced literally right through Blaise's skull. "My father knows perfectly well that nothing in this life can be obtained without it, without sacrifice."

"It would be irresponsible of me to allow you continue with this." Blaise's voice cracked slightly, his lower lip trembling faintly.

"I don't care if you're my _uncle_. Move aside and don't you dare to touch me again." Scorpius voice was hard and cold as frozen iron, clearly hostile. "I can't stand anyone's touch except my father's."

Blaise's voice trembled with repressed anger. "I've promised Draco I'd protect you and that's exactly what I'd do: I'm taking your place."

Arching annoyingly his scarred eyebrow, Scorpius spoke with forced calmness. "You can't take my place. If you were to do it you'd not only managed to get yourself killed but waste the last chance my father has to make it alive. I've prepared myself to be the key. My magic power and physical strength have been aligned with the exact combination to open the door that leads to the physical and spiritual enlightment of my father."

Narrowing his pitch-black eyes, the jet black haired Slytherin then kept himself silent as something he once said to Draco caught up to him:

_"What you don't understand is that with the constant changes in the course of natural events even your son's existence could be jeopardized."_

Swallowing down his angst, Blaise shook his head twice. "Your acts are connected to past acts and this goes back to the biginningless beginning and on to the endless end. Not only your own acts determine you, but the acts of the people around you also have continuity with yours."

Letting go a snort-like sound while reading Blaise's thoughts, the ponytailed wizard combed a loose strand of hair behind his ear. "I see, you're afraid that if I die your existence would be jeopardized because without the charm I've given to my father he couldn't have saved you…well…allow me to clarify your doubts. Each time I've bended the course of the natural events I've read the re-alignment of the stars and commands of The Fates. My father's actions speak for themselves: he'd risked his life _twice_ in order to save you. He doesn't want you dead and only because of that I've made sure you'd stay alive, for my father's sake."

Narrowing those pitch-black eyes of him, Blaise shot back, getting pissed. "For every change made, a change that is equal in magnitude but opposite in nature comes into being. For every action there's an equal, yet opposite, reaction. Each and every thing, each and every action, each and every moment of the present is the sum action of all the various layers of the past of all things acting at that place and time. These things are taken together mean that there is no ending to the number of effects that arise from any given cause, and that the nature of these effects cannot be predicted, for any degree of complexity can arise from combinations of synergistic and antagonistic reactions. All of this indicates that for every action taken, an infinite number of complex consequences come back to affect in turn the initiator of that action!" He finished, almost out of breath.

As the blond gazed over at the all-white dressed Slytherin, his features held an edge of remembered hatred. "We humans are not supposed to challenge mother-nature, but truth is that we can still bend a reduced number of the limits imposed by her. Even after I've deviated slightly the course of natural events, there's still a fixed pattern beneath that no human-being can alter."

Those pitch-black eyes opened wide to the truth. "Was in Draco's fate to die tragically then?"

"It isn't in yours to die prematurely." Scorpius replied evasively before adding with a tragic smirk. "Now you understand why I've given the Swastika charm to my father? I had to make sure someone would secure his survival in case something happened to me."

Blaise leaned closer to the blond and asked in a quiet but worried voice. "What do The Fates say about you?"

"I've never been able to read what the stars say about my destiny." Scorpius said, his voice diminishing from his turmoil state.

Trying to get rid of the uncomfortable feeling that struck him, Blaise shook his head twice. "Why not?"

"Because there's nothing written about me and that means only one thing: I wasn't supposed to make it in this world. But during the course of the seven months I've spent in that loveless womb, meant to be my deathbed, I've received constant support from the outside that made me realize that someone did care about me after all and that gave me the strength to fight back because I wanted to live for that someone. It's thanks to my father that I'm alive. He was the only one who believed in me and gave me a chance when everything else was against. Whether they deserve it or not, my father had always given a second opportunity to those he cares about. How would you call that…did he actually _play god_ or was he just _being_ _human_?" The ponytailed wizard asked without waiting for an answer and then turned his back at Blaise who stumbled onto the floor from the shock, crashing down onto my knees, speechless.

While heading to the spot he first saw that blinding light Scorpius shut himself down from every trace left of emotion, his smooth, ethereal face looked immobile and impassive. But whatever he'd expected to come across, it was certainly not what he'd just found. He stopped besides the remainings of a wood slide and ducked his head painfully, tragically drawn to what was in front of his eyes.

On the floor lied a small blond boy no older than four years old. A battered, blood-stained dark green cloak wrapped his skinny beaten-up body. His pale face was glistening with sweat, tears and crimson beads.

Scorpius felt his heart skipped a beat. He sucked up air; his voice carried a melancholy tint. "Father…"

The small boy opened his mouth in a silent scream and looked up. The white orbs of his eyes were red and puffy from crying.

"Scorpius?" Draco asked with his high-pitch child voice.

Gulping the burning knot down from his throat, the ponytailed wizard nodded silently for he couldn't formulate a word or bring himself to speak from his conflicting mixed emotions.

"You've found me." Draco bit his chopped lip and studied the floor for a long moment before lifting his foggy gaze. "This means I can no longer use my magic, can I?"

Shaking his head, the ponytailed wizard mouthed the word "no", those pearl-gray eyes of his remained fixed to his father's face without blinking.

"_I feared this would ha__ppen. I can't hide myself anymore because I've lost all my magic power yet I'm still far from dying."_ Almost shamefully, Draco pulled the battered cloak around his infant body, wrapping himself tight in it and took sit on the floor.

"_I can't get attached to Scorpius. I can't allow my son to get to me because if he does, then it would be more painful for both of us to say goodbye. I can't __allow my feelings for him to arouse because it'd hurt us both, it'd make us weak and now more than ever we both have to be strong. I have to be strong not only for me but for him as well. I have to make him hate me and turn his back and leave this place before it's too late. I have to…"_ But Draco couldn't help himself and when he looked up at his son – as his vision slowly cleared - his pupils dilated in full once he repaired on the slashing scar that crossed Scorpius' flat stomach.

Despite that from where Scorpius was positioned Draco couldn't see the pair of reddish threaded scars that the teenager had on his back - the ones that crossed diagonally from his shoulder-blades up to his waist – what he saw already made his small hands curl into tight balls.

Draco couldn't quite managed to voice his feelings as a rush of parental protectiveness and anger drowned him, sending down the drain his efforts to shut himself from his emotions. He then started uttering something under his breath that resembled death threats to those who dared to harm his son.

Ducking his head down Draco shook it slowly to the sides looking miserable. "This is my entire fault… I did this to you… I couldn't protect you either…"

Scorpius kneeled by his side yet at a prudent distance – consciously aware that too much closeness would end up distressing Draco - and once he composed himself his pearl-gray eyes darkened completely. "You'd always been self-centered, wanting to control everything so that to be in charge of each single situation. But then you went beyond that and started sacrificing yourself, abusing yourself, blaming yourself...feeling responsible for everything, believing it is all your fault when it is _not_. You should not take the blame that rightfully belong to others nor let yourself be burdened by the guilt that should be carried by others."

Draco made a frustrated angry noise, a faint growl vibrated inside his small chest. "Still I'm the one who's supposed to take care of you but I've failed! What kind of father does that make of me?!"

"You've always taken good care of me, you've watched over me and protected me as well." The teenager prompted with a grateful smirk.

Draco could feel the tears welling in his eyes and that made him even more miserable and angry with himself. "Then how could I let you do this?!"

Scorpius shrugged apologetically. "Actually, you didn't. I've kept it all in secret because I didn't want to cause you more distress. I've repaired and improved the Time-Turner professor McGonagall gave to you. I thought by procuring the things you always wanted it would make your life whole, grant you a well deserved share of happiness." He then paused, his facial features hardened. _"But instead they've ended up threatening to take you away from me. I won't allow that to happen. I won't let go of you, not now, not ever." _He said to himself, carefully shielding his thoughts.

Draco's mouth went dry, he felt betrayed and lied at first but then he saw past those emotions and - after taking a sound and steady breath - _tried_ to be the calm voice of reason.

"Son, I'd understand if you've been keeping secrets from me. That's okay; we all have the right to keep things to ourselves. I'd respect and encourage your freewill _but _you've recklessly risked your life for my sake and ended up suffering physical wounds. That's a _very_ serious matter to me: you're my son and I'm your father. It was about time you realize that all your efforts to keep me from worrying would end up making me worry all the more!" He finished, rising his high-pitch voice angrily.

Scorpius bit his lower lip nervously. "I might have made a few mistakes along the way but I've learnt my lessons well." He paused to caress his scarred eyebrow. "This one is a reminder of the first and last time a gang of bullies from seventh year dared to pick it out on me shortly after I've started studying at Hogwarts."

Draco's eyes narrowed - gritting teeth – and his parental protective urges exploded inside him again as he pictured Scorpius' words inside his mind and that immediately reminded him what Narcissa told him:

"_The abilities, magic and psyche of your heir would be far superior to the likes of the rest: that would arouse jealousy, suspicion and hatred of everybody around." _

"After our confrontation no-one ever saw those cowards again at the school grounds. Their families are still looking out for them but I've got rid of all evidence…ashes included." Scorpius gave him a most studied innocent, big-eyed look.

Draco twisted his thin lips into a sneering smile. "Have I ever told you how proud I am of you, son?"

Arching amusingly his scarred eyebrow, the teenager confessed. "The credit is not mine but yours: you've taught me everything I know."

Fixing his glassy eyes on the scar on Scorpius' flat stomach – a serious slashing battle wound that stigmatized his son's body - Draco's heart squeezed in itself with remorse and burning guilt. "So you're saying that I happen to know about it too?"

"You couldn't possibly have noticed that one." Scorpius felt his eyes burning with invisible tears and instinctly had to look away, hiding from his father his turmoiled thoughts._ "You've never explored the nakedness of my skin nor allow me to touch your body the way I'd always wanted not once since I was born."_

Pausing to clear the angst from chocking his voice, the teenager explained. "Whenever I leave the privacy of my bedroom I always do it properly dressed."

Draco understood, reluctantly. Even a simple t-shit would cover it - still he should have noticed when Scorpius got wounded and immediately after that he started weighting his responsibilities and duties as a father.

"You haven't even _mentioned _it to me either, have you?" Draco then narrowed his sore eyes, seeing his son through his eyelids.

"I guess I never knew how to bring up the subject properly. I tried, I really did." Scorpius could hear the ragged anguish edge in his own voice, but he couldn't help it, yet he managed to hide perfectly well his thoughts from Draco. _"Countless times I've tried to strip myself in front of you, not just to show you my wounds, but to convince you to touch me. But whenever I started peeling off my clothes you've sent me a mental warning to stop. I knew that if I were to expose an inch of my skin to you you'd storm off the room and start blaming yourself for my behavior."_

"_Have I ever paid my son the attention he needed? Ha__ve I ever devoted quality time to reinforce my relationship with him? Have I've been a father at all?"_ But the more Draco questioned himself, the more he sunk in the insanity of it all thinking about an hypothetic future that would no longer be such for he was going to die.

Draco sighed painfully; a look of heavy sadness crossed his face. "Son, did I ever do something to make feel afraid of me or make you feel ashamed of yourself?"

"I do feel ashamed of myself most of the time because of the weaknesses of my heart. I'm aware I should not act purely on emotion but sometimes I can't stop myself. I know I'm not like the rest, but you've always supported and helped me built a strong self-esteem, encouraging me to love myself more whenever I was in doubt. You've never harmed me, not physically neither mentally, to make me feel afraid of you. You're the only one who'd never give up on me and always stood by my side. I thank you for that." The ponytailed confessed immediately, a shy smile curled his lips.

"I used to believe that emotions were diseases of the heart to the head. As time past by I've concluded that I've been _right_ all this time." Draco's voice was steady, but Scorpius could feel the turmoil bubbling just below the calm surface. "Some might say that emotions are supposed to_ fill_ our lives, but in reality they could end up _taking_ more than we're willing to give away. No matter how hard we try to smother them, their ghosts would still come back to haunt us, to mock us. We've got every right to feel angry and sad and hurt: that's the price we pay for staying alive."

Scorpius nodded silently, he perfectly knew his father was thinking about Luna while talking that way.

Looking intently into his son's eyes, Draco added. "Scorpius, don't be ashamed of your feelings or expressing your emotions for they're part of you. If you deny them, then you're denying yourself, you're killing yourself slowly."

Biting nervously his lip, the teenager tried not to look that impatient. "What if by expressing my feelings I end up showing my worst side to the ones I never wanted to show it to? What if by allowing myself being me I unleash the devastation of my own selfishness?"

"There's nothing wrong in putting our passionate heart and unyielding effort and strength into achieving the goals that would please ourselves. If that's being selfish, so be it! The end of our fight, struggle and suffering is dictated once we drew our last breath. Until then give them Hell son and don't you _ever_ feel ashamed for anything except for not trying, okay?" Draco encouraged smirking maliciously.

Scorpius nodded eagerly, copying his father's gesture.

But then the light in Draco's pearl-gray eyes never looked so dim._ "I'm tired, so tired of fighting. I just want to let myself go and stop feeling altogether. I've never been afraid of dying, and now more than ever I welcome death with arms wide open." _He concluded to himself, closing briefly his eyes.

Reading his father's mind again – always careful enough so that Draco wouldn't ever notice - Scorpius realized that his father's exhaustion was because he was tired in his soul and it was pulling him down into accepting that death was his one and only choice left.

Looking deeply into Draco's pearl-gray eyes the teenager reassuringly explained. "Father, I know you more than you know yourself. I've followed you around my whole life and saw the things you've accomplished. You've never let anything pull you down, no matter how painful it was you've just kept yourself going, moving forward. I've always admired that strength in you. It shaped the way I've carried my life too."

Draco swallowed hard. "Scorpius, son, you're talking about a future that would no longer take place, soon I'd cease to exist…for good."

He looked at his father's face with a mixture of apprehension and sadness. "You still firmly believe you're not worthy enough to be saved?"

Having Draco sited within touching distance made his anxiety grow inside the teenager. Scorpius then reached out a hand to touch his father's face but froze mid-way when suddenly the infant's body tensed as if seized by torturous pain.

"The more I try to focus properly my thoughts in order to understand what's going on the worse the pain inside my mind gets. It's getting more and more difficult to channel my psyche. Time inside here goes backwards. The closer I'm from dying, the weaker, _younger_, I get until there's nothing left of me and Hell would end up draining my essence completely." Draco squeaked, wrapping both arms around his head.

Still holding his extended hand frozen in the air, the ponytailed wizard asked quietly. "Father, can I…feel your forehead?"

Shyly, hesitantly, Draco lowered his arms and nodded.

Pressing softly his open palm against Draco's forehead, Scorpius soothed him with a musical voice. "How does it feel now?"

Draco's eyelids fluttered, feeling a warm, gentle wave of comfort washing over him. "Much…much better."

But Draco felt that not only the pain was diminishing from inside his skull but it was as if his thoughts were sucked out from inside him as well, leaving him in a state of mild light-headness. The way his son's face glowed the very moment his hand touched him mesmerized Draco, it was almost hypnotizing.

"It's remarkable how much you look like me." Draco acknowledged; his pearl-gray eyes droopy yet curiously alert.

"I've told you that the more I'd take after you the more I'd feel better with myself, haven't I?" The other smirked brightly.

Draco froze in shock as those words struck inside his head and started sweating profusely in spite himself.

"Yes, you've told me those exact words the last time we talked. Do you remember _everything _that happened when your mother…I mean when you_,_ still unborn, and I…when we…" But Draco couldn't continue as a burning sickness crawling up his throat prevented him from saying another word.

"_How could I__ forget the day I've made you completely mine?__ I_ _remember perfectly how your skin tasted like when it was all sweaty and feverish and how my touches made your body shiver in spite of yourself and I remember the painfully exquisite noises you made when you were on the verge of losing control, I remember it all." _Scorpius' eyelids fluttered, reliving – rejoicing – that day.

"How could I forget the first time you've awoken me? I also recall your exact words: _I stand alone. Always have and always will._" He then looked up at his father and smiled innocently. "I wanted you to know that it wasn't true, that you were not alone and that you counted with someone who'd always love you and would never leave your side. I wanted you to know that I was there for you, willing to give you everything you ever wanted."

"_Gi__ve me what I ever wanted?"_ Draco repeated to himself and his heart missed a beat_. "This means that Luna never meant to get back with me. That night at the cemetery, after the last living Horcrux, Potter's stigma, was destroyed it wasn't her who kissed me in front of those three Gryffindor gits. She wasn't the one who took me to that underground alley, chained me and talked me to stay with her. It wasn't Luna, not her, all the things she did to me they'd never past her mind, they were never her idea. She wasn't the one who wanted to kiss me or touch me, not her. All this time I thought that when I've stopped fighting back and surrender it was because it was finally Luna … but it wasn't her either!"_

"I was the one who'd awoken you. I'm the sole responsible for everything that happened." Draco began in a choked voice and hunched forward his infant body, giving his son a burdened, guilty look before grabbing head with both hands. "Oh Merlin! What have I allowed you to do?! I've put you in danger not only physically, but also mentally and emotionally! I've corrupted you! I've stigmatized you!"

The ponytailed wizard felt his heart swell at the pain in Draco's pearl-gray eyes. _"Hades is no punishment enough for what I've done to my son. I'm worse than Lucius. I'm worse than an animal! Beasts don't abuse their offspring!"_

"There was no blame in your actions." Scorpius prompted with an immutable face. "If there's someone who'd have to apologize for what he'd done that would be me. I was the one who deceived you and restrained you so that you wouldn't run away." Pursing tight his pale lips, he added to himself. _"But I won't apologize because I'm not sorry for what I've done." _

Draco first gave the teenager a stern look but then he was assaulted with the memory of Luna's greedy, warm lips tasting him, and her masterful mouth that drank every drop of his feverish lust. But it hadn't been his wife the one who'd worked his body and pushed him beyond the limits of ecstasy…it hadn't been his wife the one who'd granted him the best sexual release of his life. He then shook his head furiously, trying not to think about it for that mere thought started to tick inside his head as a time-bomb ready to wipe out the last bit of sanity left.

Scorpius' cheeks blushed a timid shade of pink, he was relieved that Draco was too weak to realize he'd been reading his mind all that time and shielding his own thoughts in the process as those forbidden emotions continued to grow in his heart. _"__I'd give anything to take you again in my mouth and quench my thirst for you."_

"You were still unborn, confused and unable to control your power and your magic and I was so blind and selfish. I've misread the signs and refused to accept something was happening to your mother. No words would ever back up my actions and what I've put you through. I've taken advantage of what's most treasured to me in the whole world: you." Draco finished with a broken voice, unable to consider blaming Scorpius for what happened back in the cemetery underground alley.

"_My son ended up suffering the burden of every single one of my wrongs. Not even my death would ever subside all the pain I've caused him." _Squeezing his burning eyes shut, Draco could feel the shameful tears started to roll down his cheeks.

"Can I hold you in my arms and comfort you?" Scorpius asked with a tone that sounded more than a desperate plea than a question.

The teenager looked beyond sad, those pearl-gray eyes begging so painfully that made Draco feel more confused than ever.

"How could you possibly want to be close to me after what I've done to you?! I've ripped you away from your innocence!!" Draco snapped out completely furious with himself.

Scorpius' caring gaze studied Draco for a moment and then sighed soundly. "Father, I still preserve the integrity and purity of both my body and my magic essence."

With his teeth gritted to stop his trembling, Draco said. "It'd be better if I stay away from you. I don't want to taint you."

"But I trust in you, do you trust me back?" He insisted, hiding from Draco his tormented thoughts. _"I need to feel you close to me. I can't stand anymore being around you and not being able to touch you." _

"Of course I do." Draco replied and immediately after that the teenager reached down and lifted the infant into his arms, holding him protectively close, surrounding him with his warmth.

"_I've missed you so much!"_ After cuddling Draco over his lap Scorpius then started rubbing one hand up and down his father's small back, soothing him.

Swallowing hard, Draco chocked pitifully. "Thank you."

At first Scorpius' face went clammingly pale and still, for it was the first time he'd heard his father thanking him but he then recovered soon from the initial shock he felt his cheeks burning with a warm feeling.

Draco lowered his head shamefully, tears started to form on the corner of his eyes. "Thank you for your forgiveness, your trust... I don't deserve them."

Scorpius facial features smoothen and relaxed completely, his velvety pale lips curled into a smile.

"That's where you're wrong father: you deserve to have it all." Smiling proudly the ponytailed wizard then resumed rubbing Draco's back in slow circles, soothing his father's aching muscles and tender skin while humming a soft melody.

"What happened?" Scorpius demanded to know, caressing softly the flesh wounds on Draco's ivory pale skin with his long delicate fingers.

"When I've found out that you and Blaise were here I did everything I could think of in order to stop you two from finding me." Covering his face with both hands, Draco confessed. "I've tried to destroy what's left of me so that nothing would remain for you to save!"

Scorpius hugged Draco tightly in his arms and whispered angrily in one ear, his voice cracked completely. "I forgive you for what you were about to do."

Draco was about to reply when tears started to fall from his cheeks, blinding his eyes.

"I've always wanted what's best for you." The ponytailed wizard tightened the grip around Draco's waist and started massaging the back of his neck with his other hand.

With difficulty, practically holding his breath, Draco asked. "And what's that?"

"Me." Scorpius said bluntly.

As Scorpius continued massaging Draco's neck, his other hand worked its way down to the side of Draco's neck and Adam's apple before letting his long fingers trail lower, making random patterns with his fingertips over his chest, giving Draco the shivers but the neck massage was making him feel strangely relaxed.

"Father, can you tell me how does this feel to you?" He asked curiously

"It feels as if I were resting on top of layers of…hmm…_cotton_? No…it's more like…hmm… warm bubbles of _air_? I don't know exactly…what it feels like anymore but it's… so…soo… soothing." The small blond ended the phrase dragging his words and closed his eyes, tilting his head backwards for he was feeling a little elated.

"_Words have not yet been invented to describe the pleasure I feel when I'm this close to you."_ Scorpius' lips were just one inch apart from Draco's mouth, his eager fingers continued with the devious massage all around Draco's neck.

"Do you love me?" He asked, fighting the urge to melt his lips with his father's.

Draco opened lazily his eyes and nodded slowly so that not to increase even more his light-headness.

"Yesss… with ahh…all my heart." Draco finished, snapping out from the trance.

Cupping with his small fingers Scorpius' hand Draco kissed his son's open palm several times before closing it and pressing it against his son's bare chest, close to his heart.

"Scorpius, don't you ever doubt my love for you." Draco replied wanting his son to imprint those words forever inside him.

Staring blankly at his closed palm, a swirl of emotions struck Scorpius' facial features silently telling Draco that something was deeply upsetting the teenager.

"Your grandmother used to do this every night before I went to sleep when I was a child, just like I'd probably look now in this dream my dying mind created." Draco's eyes sparkled with tears; he was shivering like a leaf. "She told me that once I was deep asleep and opened my hand, those kisses would take away my fears and make my heart grow stronger."

Despite the change in his vocal cords granted his tone a higher pitch, Draco's voice sounded almost angelical. Scorpius found himself caught in the blissful melody that was filling his ears.

"There was always something unique in the quality of your voice, even now, despite we're in this dream and you look _so_ young. The way your voice creates soft waves in the air when you talk to me makes me feel feather-weight and your eyes, the way they sparkle whenever they look at me kept giving me the strength to carry on hoping things could be different…_better_…for both of us." Scorpius' voice started trimming slightly, when he looked up at his father, the sadness of his gaze got right through to Draco. "You deserve to have it all. I wanted you to be happy and be surrounded by those you care about, but the things you want are the same ones that are threatening to take you away from me."

Draco was already chocking himself with silent sobs as more tears started to fall from his sore glassy eyes. "I know you're afraid of letting me go but those who loved us, they'd never leave us, not really. Even if you can't see me, I'll always be there with you."

"You're not going to die, that's why I'm here." Determination and resolution sealed Scorpius words.

When Draco opened his mouth to speak, Scorpius started tracing a finger over his lips, hushing him. "I'm not afraid."

"_But I'm terrified!" _Ghostly pale and sweating, Draco squeezed his eyes shut and tensed up, wincing in pain as his heart agonizingly twist and turn before breaking in pieces. "Scorpius, son, you've suffered enough for my sake. I won't let you do this. It hurts too much. I want the pain to stop. Everything in me is falling apart from the inside out: I'm experiencing death in every way possible."

Sensing his father's suffering and heartache, Scorpius broke the silence with a velvety smooth voice. "I can relate myself perfectly with how you're feeling now. Whenever I'm close to you my heart beats so fast that it's difficult and painfully to breathe but the bliss I experience whenever you touch me, even if it's always a gentle, brief and subtle touch, is overwhelming. At night I've got trouble sleeping because I always seek for your closeness. I wish your warmth would embrace my whole body and never let go and the sound of your heartbeats…I wish they'd encompass my dreams, just like when I was a baby." He paused and asked quietly. "Would you let me breathe my psychic magic into you? I want to ease the pain inside your dying mind."

Draco's heart missed two consecutive beats. The moment he opened his eyes his pupils swelled completely, he was terrified.

At Draco's lack of answer, Scorpius' voice dissolved into inarticulate misery. "It's not a physical kiss but a psychic one."

Draco could hardly bring himself to speak from the constricted agony that assaulted his chest, when he opened his mouth his voice came shaky. "If I let you breathe your magic into me you'd not only take all my pain in but your psyche would blend with mine in the process. This would leave _serious_ after-effects: it'd taint the purity of your magic essence!"

"_I'd endure all kinds of pain for you. It's a fair price I'm willing to pay because I want you to fall in love with me and this is the only chance I've got left. After blending our psyches my feelings for you would induce your mind to accept them, pulling down the barriers that have kept me away from getting to you all this time: you'd learn to desire me and we'd finally be able to consummate our love." _Quickly, Scorpius shielded his thoughts and cleared his throat. "Nothing that comes from you could ever hurt me. Let me do this, I want to."

"No. This is extremely dangerous, the pain is _too_ strong. I can't allow it to get to you." Shacking violently his head, Draco refused. "Son, because of my mistakes, you've already got a leash around your soul and heart with the curse of the Red Threads of Destiny! I'm a monster. I've broken a great number of taboos, destroyed not only the bodies but also the minds of countless people in every way possible, but I refuse to corrupt even more your precious self!"

"You're not a monster and I'm remotely a precious being." The teenager cupped the small boy's chin with one hand, lifting Draco's head up. "Father, _I_ was the one who forced the _promise_ of the Red Threads of Destiny on you. A promise that wouldn't fade nor take full effect unless you are committed to complete it with me. I'm in love with you, I've always wanted you and my feelings for you are as passionate and consuming as ever. The only difference is that now, after everything you've taught me, I'm incapable of forcing you to do something you don't want to, that's why I'd always seek for your consent. Even though I know better than before I was born, I still refuse to learn the lesson you taught me when I was younger: _A loving parent would always safeguard the integrity of his child's body and mind, that's how he expresses his unconditional love for his offspring_. I didn't understand back then and as I grew older I've discarded it completely, hoping you'd change your mind because we belong together. I want you to know that you own every part of me. I'd submit to you willingly in body and soul if you'd just give me a chance."

As his splitting headache intensified, the pressure and intensity of the pain inside Draco's mind increased hitting him like a thunderbolt with the fact that Scorpius loved him so much that he wanted to give him everything…literally.

Scorpius could see the fear and worry in his father's eyes and that made his heart sink.

"The union of two bodies is about giving _and_ receiving pleasure: even if love is or not involved, desire must be mutual in the act of sex. I know you do love me, but you don't desire me." Scorpius said breathing heavier before asking. "Father, would you have allowed me to get under your skin if I'd been born with a body like hers?" He inquired refusing to bring up Luna's name.

"No!" Draco replied exasperatedly without needing to consider the possibility.

The teenager's eyes redden, rubbing them furiously, he said. "Not even…"

"Not even if you were the vivid image of your mother." Draco finished the sentence - guessing exactly where the ponytailed blond was aiming at - and his pearl-gray eyes reflected the sincerity of his words.

Feeling the tears forming on the corner of his eyes, Scorpius hissed. "Does the body I was born with disgust you _that_ much? Is it because I'm a man...is it because of my scars?"

"I never saw anyone more beautiful than you: you're perfect in every sense of the word." Cupping with both his small hands Scorpius' cheeks, Draco smirked sadly. "Scorpius, listen to me and listen carefully: this is _not_ a matter of gender." He started but was soon interrupted.

"Desire is inherent in the human behavior: it does not limit itself by any sex barrier, right?" The ponytailed wizard spoke his mind out loud this time.

Draco nodded. "That's right. When two lovers come together in the act of sex they become one and the differences or alikeness of their bodies vanish entirely. Still there are certain limitations, at least to some people…such as myself: I'd never conceive the possibility of getting intimate with a child of mine."

"Not even if it is consensual?" The teenager asked, pushing further the subject, pressing soft kisses inside Draco's palms.

Shaking his head violently, Draco retorted. "It's _never_ consensual. The elder is always the one responsible for having roused it on the minor. It starts by taking advantage the child's love and trust before abusing his body!" He finished, practically emptying his small and tired lungs with a chocked shout.

Scorpius smoothed softly with two fingertips the frown off Draco's forehead. "You're blaming yourself again."

"Damn right I am!" Draco sent as sternly as he could.

"_I know I'm__ making you feel uncomfortable, and yet I can't stop hoping one day you'd share my same wishes and unfulfilled desires."_ Scorpius' lips tried to smirk but failed, his eyes were dull with sorrow. "My feelings are hurting you, they always have."

"Son, I love you in a way I'd never love anyone else: you're too precious for me and my feelings for you scare me as well." As his eyes trailed along the scar on his son's stomach, Draco's gaze darkened completely. "I'd never dare to deny you anything but at the same time I can't stand the idea of your being dominated by anyone. You are a Malfoy, born to possess everything and everyone…not the other way round."

After considering carefully Draco's words, Scorpius confessed. "My willpower keeps the urges under control and I've trained myself to shut out my needs but whenever I'm close to you my self-control weakens drastically and my senses cloud completely my judgment. Being around you reminds me that I'm living in a prison of flesh and bones but also makes me realize that if it wasn't for you, I'd never have experienced any kind of emotions at all. Father, you're the only one who makes me feel human."

Draco tilted the teenager's chin down so he could look into Scorpius' eyes. "Don't let your emotions take the best of you. Allow them to surface, yes, but you've got to differ if they're your friends or foes. Learn from them as you do with people, study carefully how they make you feel. If they make you weak and lose ground you've got to protect yourself from that harm and turn the burden into something you can profit from. If you apply yourself you'd find that every hardship you come across in your life is meant to make you not only stronger but also wiser."

"I'm sorry for letting you down." The broken tone of his son's voice made a lump rise to Draco's throat.

"Don't apologize." Shaking his head twice, the infant swallowed down his angst. "Remember always who you are, son. You don't apologize to _anyone _for _anything_, no exemptions!"

Lifting slowly his sore eyes from the floor, Scorpius voice came completely undone. "But I do feel ashamed of myself when I act this way. I don't want you to cause you more distress."

"Don't you _ever_ say that again! There's _nothing_ to feel ashamed of! Scorpius, your magic, your psyche, your abilities…they're unmatched! Don't you realize that you're finest, most powerful Malfoy there is?! You can have the whole world under your feet!" Draco shot back angrily gritting his teeth. "_I'm no fool. I'm fully aware what my son is capable of doing when he's determined. I know he can outsmart me in a beat without me even knowing. I'm not even half as cunning as him and with my magic gone and my psyche weakening I'm helpless against his schemings."_

Scorpius smirked to himself – reading Draco's thoughts while shielding his own - his face denoted not a single trace of emotion. _"Yes, I do want the world because I want you and you're the world to me. One way or another, I'm going to reach my goal. No matter what choice you make, no matter how much I have to sacrifice myself, today is the day when I'd achieve the impossible: you're going to fall in love with me."_

"I've been a nightmare to your mother, a headache to your uncle, heartache to you... Everyone I loved I hurt. I'd leave this world without knowing what _being me_ truly means but one thing is for sure: I'm the death of you all." Draco then started chocking with hollow sobs, his face went purple red. "And for that I deserve to suffer the worst kind of condemnation Hell can offer to a beast like me!"

Draco shivered slightly in spite himself feeling Scorpius' long fingers brushing through his short silk blond hair as the teenager's murmured soothing words and his other hand caressed his cheeks gently, pulling him closer against his bare chest_._

Pressure built behind Draco's eyes. A tear leaked from one corner to trail down his cheek. "_Even though I'm his weakness, I'm going to die and this would leave Scorpius a clean path for him to achieve anything he wants without having to deal with the burden of carrying a weak spot."_

Ducking his head to the side, resting his cheek against his son's open palm, the infant smirked sadly. "I never thought I'd have the chance to say goodbye to you, son. I'm so glad I got to see you at last before I go."

"No. You're _not_ going to die." Carefully placing Draco on the floor, Scorpius stood right in front of his father and called out. "I, Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, invoke the power of the spiritual light to reveal the Rune signs of my body perfected through suffering, glorified through trial!"

A blinding light encircled the teenager's body, turning visible the Ancient Magic Runes traced on his body. Draco's curious pearl-gray eyes traveled his son's skin – from his right arm passing through his shoulders, chest, upper and lower abdomen back to the end of his left arm – making a full scan of their shapes and meanings. _Raidho_, the Rune meant for both physical and internal journey was closely followed by _Kensaz_, the torch meant to bring the light to the darkness, the Rune of discovery. Next to it was drawn _Gebo_, which meant sacrifice, payment, a thing voluntarily lost so that something else might be gained. _Eihwaz_, the Rune that symbolized both death and life was followed by _Algiz_, the Rune meant for protection and communication between realities of dreams and nightmares. The last three Runes drawn in Scorpius chest were _Tyr, _Rune representing fidelity and honour; _Mannaz_, representing the ideal man and _Ing_, the Rune that described the ultimate power, the power of life itself...Scorpius was the symbolism in perfection of the key Draco needed to pass from his dying state to a complete physical and spiritual rebirth into the world of the living.

Forcing his small lungs to draw enough air to talk, Draco's child-like voice came with a high-pitch cry. "NO! NEVER!"

Scorpius shook his head, a look of shame coming into his sad eyes. "Use me. Use my body and my magic. Give me this opportunity to be useful to you."

"_How could my son come to this? How could his self-worth been trashed like this? I won't let him continue with this destructive course of thinking."_ Draco's eyes darkened once more as he tried to steady the faulting tone in his high-pitched voice. "There's a reason why I've been _allowed_ to place my life in danger and pursue my selfish goal of defeating the Dark Lord. I've fulfilled the one rule our family ancestors had never broken, not _once_, in centuries."

The teenager's face went clammingly paper-white. He looked up at Draco horrified for he knew exactly what was coming: his father was about to reveal the ace he kept hidden under his sleeve all that time.

"Scorpius, you're the last male of the Malfoy's Clan. Whether it's against your will and your heart's desire, whether you're literally forced to do it out of necessity, it's both your responsibility and your duty to procure a legitimate heir and keep our family's pure-blood line alive!" Draco could hear the ragged edge of annoyance filling his gradually voice, but he couldn't seem to control himself. "You're _not_ allowed to sacrifice your life unless you've secured a future for our kind!"

That had been indeed the most desperate yet efficient maneuver Draco could pull out at such critical moment to stop his son from continuing with his plan to trade his life for his.

Brushing off the sweat from his forehead, Scorpius breathed deeply, angrily. "I'm giving you the opportunity to be with the woman you cherish dearly and the brother you trust your life with. Isn't that what you've always wanted?"

Looking defiantly at his father he sent him a mind touch. _"Check"._ But Draco's psyche was too weak to read it_. _

Draco fixed his puffy and shadowed eyes with his son, darkly determined. "You are the one who's supposed to survive me. You're my sole heir."

"You can always have another child." Scorpius replied in a-matter-of-fact tone without blinking before adding to himself. _"Checkmate."_

Seeing though his half-closed eyelids, Draco hummed under his breath. "I'm the past: you're the future. Your children would literally _rule_ this earth if you already haven't procured it by the time they're of age to take your lead."

"_If it's not with you, then I won't give in to anyone."_ The face of the ponytailed wizard as well as his resolution seemed to be carved in stone, he looked completely unmoved. "Father, death is the high cost of living. In order to achieve anything in life, you've got eventually to take it from someone else: take it from me."

As his vision field started to come in-and-out of focus, Draco managed to say with a raspy voice. "Scorpius, son, you're irreplaceable."

With gravity pulling him down, Draco curled his exhausted infant body into a ball on the floor and hugged his son's leg as tight as his diminishing strength allowed. _"I can't…I won't let Scorpius continue with this….but how am I going to stop him? There's no way I'd win in the shape I'm in…I'm falling apart."_

Fighting against his tormented feelings, Scorpius grabbed Draco from his armpits and lifted him up hugging the small blond against his chest before crashing onto the floor on his knees without breaking the embrace.

Impulsively, the ponytailed wizard placed a soft kiss to Draco's forehead. "What am I supposed to do then?" He asked, brushing his lips to the sides of his father's temples.

"Let me go, you _have_ to let me go." Draco replied in between deep and hollow sobs.

Pressing one cheek against Draco's, the teenager said calmly into his father's ear. "That's impossible. My whole world revolves around you and you only. You're the one I live for, so if you're asking me to let you die, then you're asking me to give up living as well. You have to reconsider my offer: as time pass by you'd learn to move on with your life surrounded by those you care about."

Backing away so he could get a better look at his son, Draco brushed a long strand of hair out of Scorpius' face – the little fingers of his hands barely cupping his son's pale cheeks – before leveling his gaze with his son. "I won't let _anyone_ die for my sake _ever _again. I've been selfish and that brought nothing but misery to the ones I love. I'd give anything to put an end to the suffering I've caused."

Scorpius hunched forward in his kneeling position so that he was nose-to-nose with Draco. "Anything?"

Draco hesitated, his face went clammingly white._ "I'm afraid... Where is Scorpius leading me?"_

Scorpius got strikingly serious, his pearl-gray eyes darkened completely. "Putting an end to that kind of suffering is not entirely a wise thing to do for _you_. You'd have to pay a fair price for it and there is no way to avoid paying the price: you'd be carrying the burden of your loving ones all by yourself."

The small blond mumbled something before finally repeating. "I'd give anything."

Scorpius' expression remained neutral, but the stillness of his body made Draco wonder if he was angry. "Don't say another word unless you're a hundred per cent sure you want to go through this. You've got to fully commit yourself."

"If I do this neither you nor your uncle would have to sacrifice your lives to save mine, right?" The small blond asked, his pale lips were pressed tight as his jaw quivered.

"Right". The ponytailed wizard limited to reply without taking his eyes off the infant.

Draco's puffy eyes were already dry for he had no more tears left, he looked relieved. "Then I'll do it."

After brushing with the fingers of one hand some untamed blocks away from Draco's face, Scorpius rested his hand on his father's tiny shoulder, squeezing it gently. "In return for the happiness of the ones you love, you'll have to make a bargain with yourself, a _promise_ to yourself. Two things are needed: action and sincerity. Once you decide to take action bare in mind that sincerity would have to encompass it from beginning to end."

Draco was silent for a moment; he seemed to be in deep thought. "Son, you're asking me to complete the curse of the red threads of destiny with you?"

"It's not a curse but a mutual _offering_." Scorpius grabbed his father's hand in his, curling his little finger with Draco. "Promise me we'll be together and nothing would ever separate us. I'm offering everything I am to you with no doubts in my heart and full trust. I surrender and submit my entire heart, my soul, my spirit, my magic and my body to you, to become one with you, forever. I'm completely yours, my whole life is yours. Take me, own me. Accept what I'm offering." He said, gasping soundly in between phrases, his voice hoarse with need and love.

Draco felt a pain pounding violently against the walls of his skull. "Don't…don't talk like that." He said, his voice coming out a bit strangled. _"__It's hurting me, it's killing me.__"_

"But that's exactly how I feel: I'm in love with you." Scorpius' voice was soft and sad, heartbreakingly sad.

Gasping soundly, Draco wrapped one arm tightly around his head. "This is wrong, you're my son!"

"Why does that have to be a bad thing? Is there something that I'm lacking that I'm unaware of? If you'd just tell me what it is then I swear I'll fix it." The look Scorpius gave him was complete innocence.

Draco's pearl-gray eyes were wide with disbelief and anxiety. "Scorpius, please, listen to what you're saying! I can't do this because I care about your safety and I want to protect you!"

The teenager buried one hand in his Draco's hair and pulled him close, both blondes were nose-to-nose. "Protect me from _what_ exactly…from who I am and how I feel? Don't say you're doing this to protect me from yourself because nothing that comes from you would ever harm me. You've been my one an only source of strength from the very moment I was conceived. Without you I'd never have made it alive in this world. Loving you is the only thing that feels right to me and what had sustained my whole existence. I don't understand why it has to be forbidden. Why sharing the same blood has to be an obstacle that prevents to be one with the person you love?"

By then Draco firmly believed he'd simply lost his mind. Stricken by a lighting pain that crossed his soul, he collapsed to the floor and started convulsing, twitching and turning his infant body into a tight knot.

"Father, I can take away the pain, allow me to do that." Getting desperate the teenager cried helplessly. "Please!"

"No." Draco gasped, his voice shaking with hollow sobs.

With panic trimming his voice, Scorpius tried a different angle. "I can help. You want the pain to stop, don't you?"

The pain and agony were so distorting that Draco sort of nodded in spite himself and immediately regretted having done that - for in a flash of lucidity he realized he'd just fallen into a trap - remembering what Scorpius' _help_ implied, but it was too late for turning things back.

Scorpius gave himself up to the moment wholeheartedly - knowing perfectly well there would never be another like it - and in one consecutive motion he caged Draco's cheeks with one hand and sealed his lips against his father's mouth. Cupping the back of Draco's head with his other hand, Scorpius pulled his father closer as his tongue worked slowly and gently to part the child's lips, seeking access inside his mouth.

Driven by a passion that burst completely out of control, the teenager deepened the kiss with feverish, consuming desire, devouring Draco's mouth as if it was more vital than air itself. Draco tensed immediately and even gagged when Scorpius' tongue ravaged completely his insides.

"_Father, I'm opening and surrendering myself completely to you: I'm a willing vessel for your possession. __Oh gods! I love you so much!__ Fall in love with me, love me fiercely until you can't bear to be away from me!__"_ Wrapping tighter his arms around the small blond, Scorpius pressed their bodies together and that was when a devastating power bathed Draco from head to toe.

Draco felt an incommensurable electric magic wave circling every inch of his small body, erasing completely the pounding ache inside his skull but at the same time shadows of memories and imprints of feelings from inside his mind started to shatter and fade switching immediately with another ones – coming from Scorpius' psyche - that filled strategically those blanks like parts of a puzzle.

"The value of things sometimes lies not in what one attains with it, but in what one pays for it…what _costs_ us. Perhaps you will attain your goal, and a worthy goal at that, but at what price?" A haunted-looking four years boy with piercing pearl-gray eyes asked out loud before jumping from the very top of the torn-apart slide right onto the floor with feline grace.

Reluctantly breaking the kiss, the ponytailed wizard rested carefully Draco's small and fragile body against his naked lean muscled torso. Not only Scorpius' face but also his whole body was glowing like never before - emanating a blinding light - his cheeks denoted a vivid red tint of blushing. His heart was drumming inside his chest so dangerously fast that it threatened to burst from the prison of his ribcage and his breathing was coming in deep, ragged pants.

Slowly composing himself from the - torturing painful yet incommensurable blissful - climax of such deep and intimate psychic communion with Draco, Scorpius methodically regained control over himself until his face acquired the traces of a controlled and emotionless mask while examining the other small blond - who was dressed with a black cloak - with a clinical eye.

"Your father can't defend himself or fight back being in the weak shape he is now. I dare say you've been waiting for this moment to happen your whole life: to ravage your father's mind with your psychic magic, implanting inside his brain all your subliminal deviations." The _other_ Draco accused narrowing his blood-shot eyes, those dark circles under them made his look even more threatening.

"I see." Breathing deeply, Scorpius focused his attention on the all-black dressed small boy. "You're my father's potential, dormant side_._"

Arching one amused eyebrow, Draco's counterback sneered coldly. "In other words: I'm the only one your father can't live without. He doesn't want you or need you, he never did. The moment he found out about your existence he blamed himself, he felt beyond guilty for corrupting his lovely wife. But as the initial panic attack in him subsided, you've aroused both fear and pity inside him. You're nothing but a burden to him: you're his worst mistake ever."

Scorpius lowered shamefully his pearl-gray eyes to the ground. He looked momentarily taken aback after hearing those words.

"I'm perfectly aware that my father never wanted to have children." He paused and lifted his eyes, looking intently at the child without blinking. "Nevertheless he welcomed me with open arms and what pushed him to do that was not fear or guilt but love."

A sticking grimace of pain flashed over the small boy's features as a swirl of Scorpius' innermost thoughts and desires – poured inside Draco's psyche during the kiss - washed over him. "Oh Merlin! Your so-called _feelings_ for your father are a blazing inferno raging out of control! Do you realize that you've done a considerable and irreparable damage to your father's mind?!"

Draco's eyelids fluttered open but he seemed to be getting even younger with the passing of the minutes. A sudden dizziness and disorientation hit him again with no mercy. Barely able to fight his tiredness Draco put his short, infant arms around his son's neck, giving a sigh of pure weariness and closed his eyes.

Pulling Draco closer, Scorpius wrapped his arms around the small blond and tilted his head down to brush his pale lips against his father's cheek. "I had to do it, there was no other way. I had to alter his psyche so that he'd fall in love with me."

"You want your father to fall for you?!" Draco's counterpart repeated with a revolting mocking face.

"I was born to love and protect him. I'm the only one who deserves to stand by my father's side: I'm his life partner." The ponytailed wizard replied, his voice hoarse with need.

"Who do you think you are to make such decisions for him?!" The_ other_ Draco accused with an exasperatedly hyper-tone. "You're doing this to make sure he'd complete with you the curse of the red threads of destiny in order to become the righteous owner of your father's soul and heart?!"

While he traced the back of his palm softly against his father's cheeks – making Draco feel even groggier with such soft and tender touch – Scorpius looked up. "I'm doing exactly what my father asked: putting an end to the suffering of the ones he loves. We're three in here with my father's brother, and only two can come out alive. By binding my soul with my father's the two of us would then blend our magic essences and become one in the eyes of the spiritual guardians of the Supreme Forces Watchtowers, this way the three of us we'd be able to cross safely death's threshold into the world of the living. My father's brother is a _Justified_ one, someone sent back from the other side of the veil who happens to reject those bonded, owned souls. Once my father and I complete the binding, we'd turn into what he's against, smothering into nonexistence all those tormented feelings he'd developed for my father, this way my father's brother would be free to follow his own destiny. And by binding my father's heart with mine, I'd make him forget what he feels for that woman so that she can make her life somewhere else, away from us. She'd never loved my father, being around him makes her life miserable and she's the death of him!"

The sore eyes of Draco's counterpart distilled pure hatred. "You seem to give your father choices, making him believe he's in control of his life but you're forcing him to make choices between the lesser of two evils, both of which serve _your _purpose."

Pausing to draw a heavy breath, Scorpius regained his ice-cold composure. "Sometimes the only thing that can keep one from going insane is what drove you insane in the first place."

The all-black dressed small blond reluctantly acknowledged. "There's no doubt about that. Unfortunately, your mother is the one he desires."

"Mother?" The teenager's dark grin broadened to a cynical smile, he almost laughed. "I've got no relationship whatsoever with that insignificant vessel of flesh and bones. I've got no mother but two fathers: one immortal, whom I despise and one mortal, whom I love. After refusing to follow the commands of my original creator I was exiled from Hades and ripped away from my immortality and powers. Conceived with the union of a human male seed and the Dark Magic of the Inferae's pact I was condemned to die inside a loveless mortal womb. But the wizard who gave me his seed to fed on also provided me with a constant stimulus that nurtured and strengthen this imperfect earthly body of mine, giving me not only the means but also a reason to fight back. It's because of Draco Malfoy, my beloved father, that I'm alive."

The pearl gray eyes of Draco's counterpart opened wide with silent terror as his cool composure collapsed into an emotional breakdown.

Scorpius showed his back to Draco's counterpart, exposing the pair of reddish threaded scars that the teenager had on his back - the ones that crossed diagonally from his shoulder-blades up to his waist forming a V shape - and explained calmly. "I was born with these two scars. They're a constant reminder of my past life…when I used to have wings. Unlike the rest of the mortals in this world, I've got only half their average humanity. I might look like a man on the outside, but deep inside I'm what you'd call a _fallen_ one." Arching his scarred eyebrow, Scorpius wondered. "I must seem ugly to you, it must make you sick to look at me knowing that I'm not normal like you, am I right?"

"Normal? I'm experiencing trouble balancing the weight of that particular concept for I don't know if I should I feel mocked or insulted." Deep, troubled frowning lines traced the small blonde's forehead. "We're Malfoys, we're not like the rest, but there has never been a half-demon in the family before."

"From whom do you think my father empowered his body and Dark Magic from?" The teenager asked before caressing softly Draco's forehead against his cheek, wrapping him tenderly, protectively in his arms.

Draco's counterpart looked visibly frightened and intimidated. "The augmented strength, speed, endurance, agility…those were once _your_ powers?"

Cuddling Draco's head in the soft and smooth curve of his neck, Scorpius spoke with a soft tone while rocking back-and-forth the half-conscious blond child. "Yes, those were my original powers when I was one of Lucifer's angels. But I'm a mortal now and I've acquired _new_ abilities despite being burdened with most of the flaws and limitations typical of the human-kind. It's also thanks to those imperfections that I'm capable of feeling the way I do when I'm close to my father. The five senses of this body of mine overwhelm me, pushing me to do things I know he is against, not because he doesn't want to but because he's confused and scared. I want my father to leave behind those insecurities and open himself completely to me."

Analyzing the situation, regretfully, angrily, worriedly the _other _Draco backed away a couple of steps. "I've warned him about you, but he wouldn't listen. That's why you've given your father that Swastika charm, to control him, to enslave him and stop his darkness from rising."

The ponytailed wizard sneered coldly. "Why would I deny my father the _gift_ I've granted him in first place? I never wanted to stop his darkness from rising. My intention was to procure him of a device that would channel properly his dark side for him to adjust better to the changes, that's all. My original powers are overwhelming for any human-being, but my father is far from being ordinary and more than capable of taming and directing such powers to his advantage."

"I don't believe you. You're trying to outsmart me just like you played your father, but I won't fall in your trap." Noticing that his vision began to blur and a pounding headache seized him, Draco's counterpart fell onto the floor on his knees, completely exhausted.

Scorpius smiled lovingly at Draco - as the sleepy blond cuddled closer in the crook of his neck, hiding partially his small face behind the loose strands of the teenager's silk long hair - before confessing. "I might have kept secrets from him, but I'd never lied to my father." He paused and looked up at the other child, his eyes darkening completely. "That's the reason I've been exiled from Hell: I can't lie."

With ferocity growing within him, clearing his troubled mind, Draco's counterpart shot back angrily. "You might not be able to lie but you're still a master of deception! I want you to admit that your father is nothing but a thing to you! That's why you want to convince him of giving you his soul and heart: you want to turn him into your puppet!"

"A _thing _you say?!" His blood thundered in Scorpius' ears and he could feel as if his skin was burning like liquid fire, a red veil was cast over his vision.

"My father is _everything _to me! I've handled him over the complete devotion of my heart and the loyalty of my soul and spirit. He's the only one who can use and dispose of my body at will: whether he wants to possess it or destroy it. I'm willing to procure everything he wants and do the impossible to secure his survival!" The ponytailed said quite loudly enough to bring Draco back to himself.

Getting nervous with the sight of his counterpart, Draco warned. "Stay away from my son, you fucker." He then tried to stand but his small, shaky knees failed on him.

"Don't believe a single word Scorpius tells you. He wants you to chain yourself to him forever. Remember that evil is all about selfish behavior, about refusing every possible binding to others, it's about breaking every single one of the restrains that oppress and impose limits in order to achieve the ultimate _freedom_." The tone in Draco's counterpart voice cut the air like steel.

Scorpius pressed one finger to his father's lips, preventing Draco from producing an answer. "Don't worry father, he's no threat to neither of us." He soothed.

Snaking his other arm around stopping Draco from falling to the ground, he held his father protectively over his lap.

The dark circles around Draco's counterpart pearl-gray eyes made his gaze even more threatening. "You shouldn't underestimate me."

Without taking his eyes from Draco's counterpart, Scorpius replied with a winning smirk. "Never did. Like I've said before, father, you taught me well. You're the best teacher I ever had. I'm proud and honored to be your son and most important of all: I love you…_all _of you."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Out of breath, Blaise halted abruptly on his tracks. His mind reeled non-stop as he took a moment to absorb the situation in front of his eyes - shifting his attention between both small blonds – as a strange sense of déjà vu wrapped him and he instantly realized what was happening. He had a similar dream, moments before he died, but unlike Draco, his psyche didn't split in two.

Locking his pitch-black eyes on his brother's counterpart pearl-gray gems, Blaise said to himself. _"No wonder why this has been the oddest vibe I've ever felt..."_

"Stop him! He's going to curse his father's soul!" The _other_ Draco urged to Blaise, accusing Scorpius with a desperate voice that made the high-pitch tone of his child's voice squeak even more.

Ducking his head down, Scorpius looked at Draco and spoke with a thread of voice. "It's up to you, father. If you're reluctant to make the promise then use me as sacrifice and let your brother guide you safely through the threshold but if you don't want to go then I'd stay here with you until the final moment comes: I'd die _with_ you or _for_ you. So, what's it going to be?"

Blaise spun his head round and walked the short distance that separated him from his nephew and brother.

"Hey kid, don't talk as if I'm not here, okay? I'm not leaving without you two and what the Hell did that brat mean by a _curse_?" The jet black haired Slytherin demanded to know, but then he went completely still as something that Scorpius said to him hit the back of his skull:

"_I won't die. I'd become part of him. This way my father and I would be together, like I've always wanted." _

Narrowing his eyes, Blaise shot a distrustful look at Scorpius. "Your bag of tricks does run deep. What are you planning on doing to Draco?"

"I came here with one purpose only: to save my father's life, but it's up to him to decide how I'd do it." Then, returning the harsh stare, the blond added without blinking. "Unlike you, I won't force my father into doing anything he doesn't want to."

Draco opened his mouth but immediately closed it when the words of his mother resounded past his ears:

"_You're __the only one with feelings and magic powerful enough to provide such unique child the adequate protection against any harm and the required support. It's obvious then why the only place your heir would ever feel loved, contained and safe is with you."_

"_He's a caring child__ and that's because you raised and taught him how, that's why you can't leave his side. Without you Scorpius' energy and magic is prone to lack of control and unleash chaos." _

"_I__ know my son needs me, I won't leave his side…but why it has to be this way? Oh mother, forgive me for what I'm about to do!"_ Squeezing his eyes shut, a tear rolled down Draco's cheek. "I promise." He finally said after curling his little finger with Scorpius.

And right then the whole place exploded with a silvery white-blue light, blinding the eyes of the three Slytherins as a deafening crushing thunder-like sound numbed their ears.

Puzzled by the unexpected turn of events, Scorpius stared blankly at his little finger.

"I've told you that next time I intervened it'd leave permanent stigmas on both of us, haven't I?" Fixing his pitch-black eyes into Draco's pearl-gray gems, Blaise stretched the collar of his t-shirt, exposing a Lifespan Seal burned on his left shoulder.

Opening his eyes wide as saucers, Draco noticed that his counterpart was gone and started mumbling. "Wha…?"

Blaise grinned brightly at his brother. "Remember when I've said that there was a reason for everything, that we all have a purpose in this life? How does it feels like to have your magic balanced and your essence complete? Pretty cool, hmm?"

"But after giving you my blood…after coming back from the other side of the veil…you're no longer a Zabini but a Malfoy... you're a complete different person…" Draco stopped abruptly the second he noticed his body was again the one of a seventeen years old teenager.

The blond Slytherin was dressed only with his black leather pants. He checked his naked torso and found the Lifespan Seal burned on his right shoulder: a swirling tongue of fire – the shape and size of a snitch - with no beginning and no end.

"You should have given yourself more credit brother, you're restored my soul completely when you brought me back." After brushing one hand over his immaculate white t-shirt, he rested it on his hips. "My magic might have evolved somehow but deep down inside I'm still the same Blaise_._"

Scorpius refused to believe what he was seeing anymore as he kept staring wide-eyed at the Lifespan Seal burned on the flesh of his father. He felt the anger seething within him and worked hard to control it. A mark had been traced on his father's body, a permanent one, and he couldn't shake off the feeling that Draco had been branded as someone else's possession. Someone had deliberately taken, stolen his father away from him.

When his face recovered from the initial shock he rested his gaze on Blaise, his pearl-gray eyes personified hate and murderous intent. "You're my father's soul-mate."

Grinning wickedly, Blaise winked in reply.

The ponytailed wizard picked himself slowly from the floor, refusing to look at Blaise a second time - or bother to pay attention anymore to what the jet black haired Slytherin was saying - hiding the devastated oppression in his chest that threatened to wipe out for good the fragile control over himself.

Draco looked betrayed, then started growing restless until he snapped completely irate. "Blaise, why didn't you tell me about this before?!" He roared.

"Because I know you!" The other spitted out feeling as irate as the blond.

Gasping soundly, Draco meant to reply but was soon hushed by his brother's pissed-off humming.

Blaise's jaw tensed, he cocked his head to the side and looked from the corner of the eye at his brother. "I knew that with your false sense of pride you'd wanted to keep as long as you could Luna's Lifespan Seal in you. Besides, I even foresaw that with that bloody self-sufficiency dogma of yours you'd most probably freak out the moment you've realized that _I_ was your soul-mate, that's why!"

Draco considered objecting but then he lowered his gaze shamefully, Blaise was right and that made him feel like a complete jerk.

After dusting off the sand and sticky leaves from his cargo pants Scorpius' pale face turned then into an inhumanly unemotional controlled mask.

"You're forgetting that we're still inside the dream my father's psyche created. Time is running out for him, if he doesn't come out from here soon he's going to die." Scorpius alerted Blaise breaking the silent tension between the two brothers.

Wiping a blazing ice-cold stare at Blaise, he ordered. "Lead my father safely thought the threshold back into the world of the living. As his soul-mate your duty is to watch over him and secure his survival against all odds. Fail with your responsibility and the future of the Wizardry World would be jeopardized because of your incompetence. GO!" He spitted acidly with whip-lash shout.

Blaise couldn't construct an immediate reply to that; he appeared confused for a moment.

Shaking off an unwanted feeling, the jet black haired Slytherin finally brought himself to speak. "You're my responsibility as well kid. You're coming with me and your father. NOW!" He ordered copying the blonde's bossy tone, stamping one foot on the ground to make his point clear.

"No, I won't." There was a tint of resentment in his voice when Scorpius spoke again without removing his fixed stare from Blaise. "Even after exchanging your Lifespan Seal with my father the three of us are still three different magic essences in the eyes of the spiritual guardians of the Supreme Forces Watchtowers and only two are allowed to come out." And with that said Scorpius started walking away from the two Slytherins.

"Scorpius, come here!" Draco called out immediately after rising to his feet.

The moment he turned round, Scorpius looked devastated. His pale complexion became clammingly snow-white in a beat.

Panicking, Draco's face transfixed with terror. "Son?!"

"You've now got a soul-mate, someone you share a strong spiritual and magical connection with and trust, loyalty and commitment are mutual." Forcing down the lump from chocking his throat, the ponytailed wizard rested his blood-shot eyes on Draco and hissed with a scratchy voice. "I've _never_ been of any use to you. Allow me to feel useful at least _once_ before I die."

Draco's heart and mind shattered in equal irrecoverable pieces as he got trapped inside an imminent panic attack, by then he'd lost not only all ability to speak but to move as well.

"Don't..." His voice came out as a breathless gasp.

"Asche zu asche und staub zu staub. (i)" And with a gracious wandless flick of his left wrist, the Ancient Runes drawn on Scorpius's body sparkled like never before, evaporating slowly his body into a shiny gold mist that vanished completely in the air.

"NO! SCORPIUS!" Draco screamed in denial, forcing his feet to move but everything around him went static.

Draco then began to hyperventilate out of control as a flickering strobe effect intensified inside his head distorting everything around him while crossing death's threshold along with Blaise back into the world of the living, leaving Scorpius behind as sacrifice to be sucked up by the devastating, infernal power of Hades.

lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

**A/N:**

**This chapter was dedicated to my loyal reviewers:**

**XDracoMalfoysGirlX****, ****vincent1875****, ****silvergold-quills****, ****dracosgirl4eva****, s!n & bl(a)ck. **

**THANKS A MILLION GUYS & PLEASE STAY AROUND BECAUSE THERE ARE 5 MORE CHAPTERS TO GO!!!**

(i) Asche zu asche und staub zu staub (German Language): Ashes to ashes and dust to dust.


	36. Chapter 36

**A/N:**

**As this story reaches its end (aprox. 4/5 chapters to close the deal)**

**I can't help but wonder which of the possible end****ings I'd choose…**

**Happy ending? Sad ending? Tragic ending? Open ending?**

**Dark ending? Twisted ending? Hopeful ending?**

**Hmmm…tricky**

**I****'ve got already 2 different scribbled endings **

**RANKING #1: TRAGIC (DARK) ENDING**

**RANKING #2: OPEN (HOPEFUL) ENDING**

**And I was about to give proper life those 2 different endings **

**(and make this fic one of those "pick your own ending" kinda stories)**

**but then snapped out completely and said to myself **

"**NO!! I'VE GOT TO COMMIT MYSELF TO 1 ENDING ALONE, BUT WHICH ONE?!"**

**So…here's where YOU better send your reviews, PMs and/or comments while you still can so I can make an idea of the things you'd like to read because if you don't act NOW I'd pick the end myself and i****f you ultimately don't agree with the one I've chosen….well…**

**You can all kiss my bliss!**

**:venomous smirk:**

**To those who PM me asking me "Hey dude, where's Luna?"**

**Here's my reply: "You want Luna? You got Luna in this chapter!"**

**Phew! ****This is by far the LONGEST chapter I've written so far! HOLY CRAP I MUST BE INSPIRED!!**

**CHAPTER XXXVI**

"_Lie awake in bed at night and think about your life…Do you want to be different?  
Try to let go of the truth, the battles of your youth 'cause this is just a game  
It's a beautiful lie, it's a perfect denial, such a beautiful lie to believe in  
So beautiful, beautiful lie makes me…  
It's time to forget about the past, to wash away what happened last  
Hide behind an empty face, don't ask too much the same 'cause this is just a game  
Everyone's looking at me, I'm running 'round in circles baby  
Plagued with a quiet desperation's building higher, I've got to remember this is just a game."_

_(__30 SECONDS TO MARS – "A Beautiful Lie")_

His desperate gasps for breath were frightening. His skinny body contorted spastically like a fish on land, he could hardly breathe or swallow, let alone speak. His bones, muscles and his head were throbbing painfully. He felt as if he was nestled in a warm pool of blood. Once he opened his eyes an intense light caused them to sting and water. Draco blinked hard and squinted until the image that projected his sore, burning pearl-gray eyes sharpened and realized that he was indeed laying in a pool of blood, Scorpius' blood…who had saved both his life and Blaise's at the cost of his own.

Draco felt like he was not only no longer in control of his own body but also of the world he was in. His son was dead and no matter how many times Draco repeated it - unwavering from his emotionless trance-like state - his tortured mind couldn't grasp it. Once the reality of what his eyes were seeing settled inside him, he immediately snapped out from his trance and got caught into a panic attack.

"NO! NO! NO!" He cried his heart out and soon began to feel light-headed; his muscles trembled with both tension and fatigue. _"I never wanted this…not like this…never like this…"_

As he slowly crawled out from that blood filled depression carved on the floor, dizziness, nausea and an extreme cold attacked his body, making him aware that he was shirtless and his tight black leather pants and boots were completely soaked with the thick crimson fluid.

Rubbing both hands against the sticky veil that covered his torso - his eyes not seemed sure what he was seeing anymore - Draco sensed that there was no sign of the mortal wound that Peter Pettigrew inflicted on him. He then took in his surroundings – Hogwarts deserted Great Hall - the place Scorpius chose to carry out the ritual to save his live.

Draco fixed his enraged pearl-gray eyes on his brother's figure – who lied on the floor scarce feet from him and was slowly waking up - and cried out with a complete hoarse voice.

"It's obvious I'm here to stay, ain't I?! I'm the closest of an immortal can be, ain't I?! No matter how many times death knocks at my door, no matter how much I wish to end it all, everyone I love would continue to die except me… BECAUSE I JUST CAN'T DIE, CAN I_?_!" The blond finished with a broken yelp.

Fighting against a funny light-headiness Blaise tried to bring himself back to reality and once he did he saw Draco shooting him a soulless murderous look. The red of his enraged pearl-gray eyes matched the crimson veil that washed the blond from head to toe.

A strangled sob escaped Blaise's throat. "I've told you I wasn't going to let you die if there was a way to save you."

"A way to _save_ me…" Draco paused, getting hyperventilated and hysterical. "USING MY OWN SON AS LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER?!" He screamed desperately, curling his fists into tight rocks.

By then Blaise's facial features hardened with rage and impotence: "How does it feel like to have others making decisions for you?!"

Draco's pupils dilated in full as a memory struck on the back of his mind:

"_I woke up in the middle of an end-of-the-days battle in the cemetery field that pretty much resembled Hell but it all became million times worse when I've realized that I was alive! __How could you've made such decision for me?!__For fuck sakes! Who do you think you are…God?__"_

Without waiting for his restored body to adjust or regain complete flexibility of his muscles, Draco struggled to rise, his shaking hands still curled into rock fists. "Whatever unresolved business you've got with _me_, we'd deal those issues between _ourselves_ but never…_ever_ dare to drag my son along the way! You leave Scorpius out…OUT!! Am I clear?!"

Fixing his stare on the floor, Blaise hissed annoyingly. "I wanted to take Scorpius' place but if I did I'd end up fucking things up and waste the only chance you've got to make it alive."

Suddenly, without warning, Draco's vision got haunted by in-and-out images that made him dizzy, his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell onto the water mirror oval shaped depression carved on the stone floor next to the blood-filled one that moments ago he'd crawl out from.

The moment his pearl-gray eyes fluttered open - still the recollection of that swirl of unrelated images tampering in the corner of his mind – Draco realized that Blaise had pulled him out from the water mirror. His back rested against Blaise's muscled torso, serving as support in his sitting position.

"Draco, please tell me you're not angry. I despise myself when you're mad at me." Blaise said with a thread of voice.

His strong arms were wrapping the blond tight, warming Draco's cold skinny frame with his body heat.

"I've broken my promise. I'd told you that I'd take care of Scorpius but I've failed you. I'm so sorry!" Blaise's throat clenched, he sounded mortified. "I should have taken his place. I'm the one who deserves to die."

"Brother, shut up. Each and every member of our family is irreplaceable: no-one deserves to die. I can't..." The blond paused - cursing under his breath - and took a deep breath before correcting himself. "I _don't_ hate you."

Blaise pressed his cheek against Draco's bare right shoulder - the one that had burned the Lifespan Seal on it - and sighed blissfully.

"Now that we've both got part of each other's raw magic power you'd always be inside me and I'd be forever inside you." Blaise moaned the words as if he was climaxing.

He then brushed an open palm over Draco's forehead, healing immediately the blonde's throbbing headache.

Draco's eyelids fought to remain open; he was getting strangely sleepy all of a sudden. "I know what you're doing and you'd better stop right now. I don't want to fall asleep."

"Draco, let me take care of you: I'm your soul-mate and that's what soul-mates do. Your body and mind need time to heal." Blaise soothed with a calm voice that seemed to induce the blond to sleep.

With an inhuman will-power to keep himself awake, the blond Slytherin snapped from the trance. "NO! Time is exactly what I don't have!"

Pulling away violently from his brother's arms, Draco slowly rose to his feet - his head swimming with wooziness – and dragged his dead-weight legs forward with effort. His first steps were extremely precarious.

Shaking his head twice - sending water drops into the air from the dripping soaked wet silk blond blocks - Draco repaired on the sleeping figure of Luna.

"Scorpius, he was _upset_ with her presence so I've cast a strong sleeping charm on her. She'll remain knocked off for another couple of hours." Blaise explained, slowly getting up from the floor, standing right behind Draco.

Luna was resting on a wood bench, deep asleep. The features traced on the blond Slytherin's pale face denoted his complex mixed emotions that overcame him:

"_Why do you punish yourself? Can't you see that the more you want her, the more you chase after her the more she would elude you? The more interest you show, the more the object of your desire would repel you. This is because your interest is too strong and that makes her feel awkward, even fearful…and it makes you weak, unworthy and pathetic!"_

His need to get close to Luna counterbalanced the ones of remain standing still on his place. But his indecision lasted a blink of an eye and rushed to her.

Refusing to look at Draco, the jet black haired Slytherin spoke with a trimming voice. "When I looked at Scorpius, really looked into those eyes of him, I could sense something disturbing and the moment I touched him, I knew that he was _different_ from us."

"Of course there is no comparison possible with the rest: he's my son." Draco replied bluntly with conviction but with a bubbling uneasiness beneath.

Blaise stared at Draco for a whole minute without blinking. By the way those pearl-gray eyes were going back and forth he could tell that the blond was trying not to think about it, at least not in depth, not the way Blaise wanted to discuss the matter.

Exhaling soundly, painfully, Blaise started. "Draco, since I came back from the other side of the veil I perceive things completely different and I can see the true magic essence of a person by looking directly into his eyes. What I saw in Scorpius' eyes reminded me of the time I've spent in Hades fighting my way back into the world of the living. He's not entirely…"

"I don't want to talk about it!" The blond Slytherin said abruptly assuming a notorious defensive posture.

"…human." The other finished after snapping his mouth shut, finding himself tumbling into a bottomless pit of regret, but by then it was far too late.

After such stunning pronouncement, Draco found himself hurriedly catching it reflexively in silence as Scorpius' words come crushing inside his mind:

"_I know I'm not like the rest, but you've always supported and helped me built a strong self-esteem, encouraging me to love myself more whenever I was in doubt. You've never harm me, not physically neither mentally, to make me feel afraid of you. You're the only one who'd never give up on me and always stood by my side. I thank you for that."_

"_You're not a monster __and I'm remotely a precious being."_

And with those words came along the vital information his unconscious held about his son's true genesis. Scorpius had been one of Lucifer's angels, exiled from Hell, ripped away from his original powers and his wings when he lost his immortality and – thanks to Draco's love and support – made it alive in a mortal human body...as a half-demon.

Feeling the burning of tears coming from the corner of his eyes, Draco shook his head furiously and wrapped his arms protectively around Luna.

When the blond Slytherin ducked his head, he noticed a blood stain on her jeans, coming from between her thighs. With horror, Draco realized what that internal bleeding meant, a miscarriage: Luna was slowly losing the baby.

After a sound, heavy sigh, Blaise spoke with a broken voice. "Draco, there's nothing written about Scorpius on the stars. He wasn't supposed to make it in this world and he knew it."

"Why would The Fates deny Scorpius the right to live!? To punish him because he's my son, my own flesh and blood?! I won't accept this! I won't let die what's most treasured to me!" The blond spitted angrily in between deep sobs.

Without wasting another second – or allowing his crawling panic attack get the best of his senses - Draco extended his right hand in the air. Immediately after that the blond was holding his wand: the Elder Wand, for after defeating Voldemort the young Slytherin had become the righteous owner of it.

"I've told you before that if my family wasn't supposed to make it in this world then I'd change the way the world is, haven't I?" Draco said to Blaise after drying with the back of his hand the tears from his moistened cheeks.

"Accio Time-Turner!" And from the depths of the crimson pool came out the shiny golden jewel, the one Scorpius had fixed and improved himself, the one with the third ring.

Placing the hourglass around his neck, Draco held tight Luna in his loving arms and whispered into one ear with a chocking, angsty voice. "Son, I want you to know that I'd never stop believing in you and that I'd always love you, _all _of you, unconditionally. I need you to be strong and fight back: grant me the time I need so I can save you."

Draco then felt Luna's left hand squeezing his forearm as tears started to fall from her closed-shut eyes and ran down her cheeks.

"I'd endure the pain… because I love you… and I want to see you again." Those words came out shaky from Luna's mouth but there was a solid and firm determination beneath them.

The Slytherin smirked sadly. Those had been the exact words he'd heard coming from Scorpius the day his son promised him that next time they both meet it'd be once he was born and have a body of his own.

"I'd protect and watch over you. I'd count the days until you're born." Draco repeated also the same words he once promised to Scorpius before kissing softly Luna's forehead.

Resting carefully his wife's back again over the wood bench Draco stood up. He walked towards the cushioned sleeping bag shaped mattress – the one Scorpius used to rest his unconscious body before performing the restoring ritual – and grabbed his son's black wool turtle-neck pullover.

Draco pressed one cheek against the softness of that combed wool - feeling the warmth and traces of Scorpius' scent in the sweater - and noticed that someone else's scent was mingled with the one of his son's.

"_This sweater is not his…but mine. Why would Scorpius use my clothes?"_ He asked to himself after putting the sweater on, clothing his ice-cold shirtless humanity.

"_Because it's the closest thing as having you touching his skin."_ Blaise shot back without daring to lift his gaze from the floor, he sounded burdened.

When Draco spoke, he did it with an anguish thread of voice. "Did he say that to you?"

Blaise looked painfully up from the ground and replied with a sad chuckle. "He didn't need to."

After closing his eyes Draco took a deep, steady breath and forced himself to slow those chaotic feelings from crushing inside him as he mastered a steady, balanced breathing. "I'd never regret anything I've done until today, when I've allowed Scorpius sacrifice his life for me. I've might have failed as a son, husband and brother but I won't fail as a father."

The moment he opened his pearl-gray eyes, Draco felt in complete control of his body and mind while an ice-cold sensation washed over him and his pulse and emotions aligned together into a straight flat line.

"I'm not _God_ but whenever I want something done right I've got no option but to do it myself: that's the story of my life. Scorpius might have the Time Turner, but I've got the Elder Wand. I can and I _will_ fix this. Ultimately, both the past and the future are determined by the choices we make today." Draco said with a firm and resolved tone in his voice.

Exasperated, Blaise curled his fists into tight balls and spitted out. "With Scorpius' existence diminishing in this exact time and space it makes that Time-Turner unstable!"

"Indeed, I can end up trapped inside a time loop." Before making a turn on the hourglass Draco looked at Blaise in the eye without blinking. "I can't turn back _that_ far in time to fix _everything_.I just need to change the course of events of the last couple of hours, that'll do."

"I've got a terrible bad feeling about all this. I'm living in a constant déjà vu. What if it's best to leave things the way they are now? This way you'd spare Scorpius from suffering even more." Blaise looked back at the blond who'd got a perplexed stare plastered all over his pale face. "Draco, it hurts to look at the kid submerged in such consuming and tormented agony. The things he'd said were scary: he literally _breathes_ for you. The way he feels about you despite your being his father, the way he'd been followed your every move since he was born…For fuck sakes, he even tried to curse you so that he could bind your soul and heart to him for eternity!"

Draco was about to reply when he clutched his right shoulder in severe pain. A stinging puncture forced him to hunch forward as a devastating burning whip-lash blow coursed all over him and the traces of the Lifespan Seal on Draco's right shoulder started to retreat.

The moment he replied, Draco's voice was low, holding the edge of a growl, he didn't sound like him in the least. "Of course that fucker would want what he cannot have, what did you expect? He's many times worse than you and I combined! Scorpius' fixation for me is just a manifestation of his hunger for power and control. He is the best and most dangerous example of a Malfoy there is. But he's my sole heir, the one who'd succeed me, without him there would be no future for the Malfoy's Clan."

Pursing nervously his lips – denoting with worry the harsh tone the blond had used while talking - Blaise ducked his head and stretched the collar of his t-shirt, checking out his Lifespan Seal and how it started to fade from his left shoulder as well. "Our Lifespan Seals are supposed to last forever!"

"_Nothing_ lasts forever." Draco stretched also the collar of his turtle neck pullover, pointing at his unmarked right shoulder - the one that until minutes ago was burned with the Lifespan Seal - and smirked soullessly when he added. "Did you think I was going to let myself get enslaved again? I can no longer accept slavery, no matter how it's disguised. I've told you that, haven't I?"

His pearl-gray eyes darkened completely giving Blaise the shivers.

"I'd hate to disagree with my dearest mother, but it seems that the Light of my soul-mate is not enough to stop my darkness from rising…or maybe you've returned from the veil as a complete different man and you're no longer who you think you are, not anymore…or maybe…just _maybe_…I am the one who came back _different_ from my near-death experience! Who knows? Who _cares _about it anymore as long as we're _alive_…whatever _that _means!" The blond snorted angrily as he balanced the wand between two fingers.

"No, that can't be true!" Blaise could feel the burn of the tears on the corner of his eyes. "Draco…you and I, we _are _soul-mates. Our flesh should be marked as such with a permanent stigma that reflects our bond: we belong to each other!"

Inhaling soundly, Draco's eyelids fluttered shut as if caught in a blissful trance. "I've never felt so liberated in my life and I'm starting to enjoy it a little too much but duty calls: I'm a father now. I've got no option but to delay getting hooked by my drug of choice and take responsibility. I have to go back in time and save my _precious _mistake." He ended the phrase with a marked ironic tone.

After reading between the blonde's words, an unexpected wave of relief flowed through Blaise, giving him the consolation he needed. "No matter how much you try to shelter yourself behind those impenetrable walls of yours, your heart would always be one of a kind."

Half-listening to what Blaise was saying, the blond rolled dramatically his eyes. "Who's the one living in denial now?"

Narrowing the distance that separated him from his brother, Blaise placed himself in front of the blond and looked at him in the eye without blinking. "Maybe the dark side of your magic will win you over in the end but your family would always come first."

"I…" Draco stammered when the rebuilding headache stricken him with another blow.

Promptly, Blaise smiled at Draco and answered for him. "You do care about us. Even after letting you down so many times you'd never give up on us." He finished with a thread of voice, wiping some tears away.

Draco blew a puff of air and replied harshly. "Don't fool yourself Blaise. The only truth here is that I certainly doubt I'd have another child, a legitimate heir I mean, because I refuse to share the same bed with that frigid of my wife again and the bastards I might or not have with my lovers won't count."

"WHAT LOVERS?!" Blaise roared exasperatedly as a peak of insane jealousy skyrocketed inside him.

He then grabbed Draco by his forearm and pulled him forward, both Slytherins were nose-to-nose. "Don't look further and think about the pros if you take _me_ as your lover. I'd entertain you in every way you can possibly imagine because I've got both the brains and the arse. I'm tighter than any bitch you might come across. I'd never say _no_ to you. I'm more than willing to give you anything you want and endure whatever you do to my body without complaining or making a scandal out of it like women use to do. Unlike the majority of the usurping bitches who'd most probably end up blackmailing you with the intention to escalate in the social status after they get into your pants I can perfectly keep a low profile and avoid making a scene in public so that any gossip would ever ruin your reputation without having to be bribed because I don't care about your money and to me the family's honor would always come first. Besides, if you're with me you won't need to worry about the bastards' issue."

The blond stared in silence at his brother for a brief moment and then smirked, without a doubt Blaise knew perfectly how to sell himself but he wondered it there was a trick to it.

"If I were to accept, what would be your conditions?" Draco inquired hypothetically looking at Blaise distrustfully.

"Just one: complete exclusivity." Blaise moaned the words slowly mere inches away from Draco's lips.

Draco let go a snort-like sound, shook his head in denial and took as step back. "No. You're asking too much."

"Fine then, no conditions!" The other muttered angrily but immediately after that he leaned closer, grinning from ear to ear. "Each and every time I'd make sure to wear you out completely before you finish me off so that you won't be able to lift it up for anyone else."

"We'll see. Maybe you've got something I want…maybe not." Draco teased darkly as the idea of taking away the purity of Blaise's magic essence crossed his mind.

Blaise tried harder to get inside Draco's mind but the blond was blocking him out, nevertheless he guessed what Draco's intentions were. "I'm not asking much in comparison with what you'd get from me. You can't deny it's a fair exchange."

"Fair? You're giving yourself too much credit. And what makes you believe that I'd still want you around after taking away what I seek in you?" Draco asked venomously while grabbing the Time-Turner between his hands.

"Guess we'll find that out after you try me." While thinking of the many things he'd like to do with and to Draco, Blaise paused for an intake of much needed air and added. "I know you want to fix things but by doing that you'd erase what happened today, this conversation included, and I certainly don't want to forget _anything_."

Arching one skeptic eyebrow, the blond sneered coldly. "I'm going _solo_."

"That's exactly why I want to give you this." After taking off his sterling locket Blaise stuffed it forcefully inside one of the pockets of Draco's leather pants and spoke with a shaky voice. "Inside it I've recollected my mementos. Do whatever you have to do in order to save your son's life but you'd better come back in one piece and return my locket with all my memories intact, you hear me?!" He finished, nervously rising his tone.

Ducking his head, Draco eyed warily his pant's pocket and replied annoyingly. "You just can't keep your hands to yourself, can you?"

Biting his lower lip, Blaise's cheeks went red. "The pocket was a deep one. I just wanted to make sure my locket won't fall from it."

Draco looked up and rested his gaze on Blaise's face for a moment. "Why did you have to go further and feel me up?" He demanded to know.

"You're kidding me, right?" But noticing that Draco was dead serious, Blaise closed briefly his eyes and exhaled soundly. "I guess after talking about sex so openly not many can master their self-control and act like an iceberg like you. I thought you wouldn't mind. Actually I was hoping you liked it because I did, a lot."

"I do mind because I didn't give you permission." Draco's pearl-gray eyes then flickered strangely and his face got stricken with both sadness and disappointment. "Blaise, you've got no understanding of trust, no wonder why we can't be soul-mates."

But before Blaise had time to produce an answer Draco had already disappeared right in front of his restless pitch-black eyes.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Running as fast as he could, avoiding taking the stairs, Draco took off from one of the windows from the second floor of the Castle and jumped up high enough to reach one of the balconies of the third floor, landing on a crouch. He unlocked the safety of the window and stepped inside quietly and silently as a cat.

Making a quick clockwise turn with his head, the blond Slytherin inspected with a keen eye his surrounding and that's when he repaired on the foggy black line encircling both Voldemort and his other self – still unharmed and fully dressed with his snake leather hooded duster - fighting inside it, inside the duel's circle.

Voldemort broke the silence addressing the mismatched eyed Draco with a cynic, cold and soulless voice. "You're quite a unique being yourself. It would be fool of me to kill the only wizard who, using his own Dark Magic combined with his broad knowledge in Alchemy, not only successfully cleansed and purified a dead body but also managed to retrieve its soul from the other side of the veil and restored its mortality. You, my boy, have unlocked the greatest mystery of all: you can raise the dead!"

Those words triggered again Draco's deepest fears and pushed his other self – the one from the past – straight into a panic attack. It was now or never, Draco had to make a move otherwise history would repeat itself.

Propelling himself into the air, Draco grasped the chain of the chandelier's canopy, swinging forward then backward his slim body before executing a half-turn in the air, landing smoothly on the floor, absorbing the impact with both bended knees.

While his other self – the one from the past - aimed his wand at Voldemort, Draco pointed his wand – the Elder Wand – towards the treacherous rat that was slowly changing back into his human form, ready to pierce with his silver hand the insides of the other blond from behind his back.

In perfect unison, both blond Slytherins called out with a determined and imminent voice that echoed the stone walls. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

The killing curses hit their targets, sending crushing into the floor both Voldemort's and Peter Pettigrew's limp, dead bodies.

Arching an accomplished eyebrow, Draco rested his gaze on the Elder Wand confirming that it was true what they said about that wand after all, it could achieve what others couldn't. Thanks to it Draco could pierce successfully through the unyielding dark magic power of the duel's circle and managed to kill Pettigrew.

But suddenly everything around Draco started to spin at the speed of sound. A blasting sound deafened his ears and his vision field got haunted again by in-and-out images that forced his eyes rolled back in his head. His self from the past and Draco started to blend together into one single person again. Unable to stand the pressure of the time and space alignment Draco fell onto the floor, completely drained of energy.

Getting desperate, Blaise approached his brother – once the foggy dark circle disappeared - and kneeled by his side, he saw that the blond had his eyes opened but only showed the whites of his orbs. "Draco?!"

But the blond Slytherin couldn't hear Blaise. He was deep in a trance as the memories that Scorpius inserted in his brain – during that psychic kiss inside Draco's dying dream - started spinning inside his mind, overwhelming Draco completely.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Beginning of Scorpius' Memory IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Blowing from time to time the same untamed long block of silk blond hair that kept falling over his smoke-gray eyes, a small boy – no older than five years old - dressed with striped ink-blue and black cotton pajamas tiptoed barefoot past the expensively decorated hall.

Halting scarce inches from a closed ebony door he looked past his shoulder – scanning the immediate surroundings with a clinical and calculating eye – and then slowly, carefully he turned the polished bronze door knob and stepped inside the silent, dark room.

With a wandless flick of his left wrist, the fireplace of the bedroom came to life with vivid dark red and orange fire tongues, warming and illuminating the place in matter of seconds. Once the boy made its way towards the left side of the empty king-sized bed, he placed a leather covered clipping folder over the night table and jumped onto the bed. He then rolled playfully his small body back and forth until he bumped against the cushioned head rest. Picking up a corner of the mattress he uncovered the pillow behind it. Grabbing the feather stuffed pillow with both arms he hugged it tight against his small body, sinking his head in it - breathing soundly the traces of scent that perfumed that pillow's cover - before letting himself fall over the bed on his back without breaking the tight embrace.

The moment he leaned forward to pick up the forgotten leather folder from the night table, the blond boy caught sight of a black silk cuff of a pajamas jacket. Pulling it from under the bed sheets, he smirked devilishly to himself as he traced with his short fingers the pair of silver threaded monogrammed embroidered letters on one of the pockets: "DM".

After putting that jacket on top of his pajamas, the boy cushioned his body comfortably on top of the pillow and started flipping through the countless clippings, mostly from The Daily Prophet and others from The Quibbler:

_**- **__**UNDERAGED MINISTER OF MAGIC NO MORE -**_

_Draco Malfoy - a pure-blood wizard and emancipated minor, last living member of the Malfoy's Clan__, inborn with a talent to lead and recently graduated with honors from Hogwarts __School of Witchcraft and Wizardry a year earlier than the rest of his classmates__ - was elected Minister of Magic last year at the early age of 17 but he turned down this position arguing that his priority was to take care of his young wife –Luna Lovegood (16) – who's expecting the couple's first child. _

_A month ago, shortly after his 18__th__ birthday, he was urged to reconsider such significant proposition and this time his answer reflected the hopes of those who join forces and persuade him to accept the post: Draco Malfoy became the youngest Minister in the history of the Wizardry World. _

_When inquired about his change of mind, the teenager explained [exact quote]: "I've accepted only because I want to provide a better world for my beloved wife and my heir to live in. They're the inspiration behind everything I do."_

_Immediately after that it was impossible not to ask him about his opinion regarding the imprisonment of former Minister Fudge and his secretary Mrs Umbridge for treason, Draco Malfoy replied [exact quote]: "They were already imprisoned but they didn't know: the moment they decided to join the Dark Lord's command they'd enslaved themselves. Whether they're physical or psychic walls, slavery is still the same: it's a limitation of the self."_

_**- MY SAVIOUR, REVISITED -**_

_During a break from her duties at the Ministry – Agnes Luthsmurgh (__74) - grandmother of two and head of family – confessed that Minister Draco Malfoy (18) saved her in more than a way [exact quote]. "Lots of people died in the hands of the Death Eaters. My daughter and her husband were attending Dumbledore's Memorial when the raid began. They gave their lives to protect me and the life of their children. We survived but were captured. Draco Malfoy rescued us from the cell we were imprisoned, the three of us are alive today thanks to him. He saved us from an imminent death. After losing my daughter and my son-in-law I was left in charge of my two grandchildren and I had to find a way to support my family but I was retired. I've worked all my life as a secretary for the __Department of International Magical Cooperation__but my former employers were reluctant to hire me because of my age. I've lost count of how many doors I've knocked at the Ministry, practically begging for someone to give me a chance to prove that I was still useful. I was just about to leave when I've come across Draco Malfoy stepping outside his office. I didn't dare to ask him for anything so I motioned silently to the exit corridor when, without speaking a word, he waved a hand in the air for me to come inside. I did as requested and he pointed at a large number of cardboard boxes piled on the corner of his office. After indexing the files, completing the information of the destroyed records and correct those inaccurate documents …I was hired by the end of the day!"_

_**- **__**FAMILY TIES: (NOT) A QUESTION OF BLOOD -**_

_E__ncouraged by his favorite subject at school, Potions – dictated by former Potion Master Severus Snape (39) current Headmaster of Hogwarts - the Minister of Magic, Draco Malfoy (18) had only one thing in mind during his childhood: to become an alchemist. It was not the love for that subject but the admiration towards his Potion Master what motivated the young student to improve and perfect his talent in order to gain the attention of his educator. _

_According to an undisclosed informer, the Minister and the Headmaster are deeply involved with one another - like a functionate unit - where mutual respect is exchanged. This same source informs that the relationship they share resembles the one between a father and a son. Such suspicions were confirmed shortly after the birth of Scorpius Hyperion, Draco Malfoy's first son. When the young man was inquired, once he left the hospital after the checking-out of his wife and son, about whom he'd name as the baby's godfather he replied immediately [exact quote]: "Severus Snape is my son's granfa…godfather."_

_And speaking about the treats of having a godfather for their baby this reporter spoke with Draco Malfoy's neighbor - Hermione Granger (18) single mother of a half-blood baby girl – whose daughter's godfather is no other but the Minister of Magic himself [exact quote]: "I've befriend with his wife, Luna, for many years now and I never expected things would have turned the way they did. Rose and I, we're both alive thanks to Draco. I've meant…Malfoy. Uhmmm…can you please cross that out when you print it, the fact that I've addressed him with his first name? It's just that Draco gets cranky whenever I treat him with such familiarity. Like I was saying, we're both alive because of Malfoy. The same day Rose lost her father in the fire Malfoy blamed himself for not being able to rescue his best friend, Blaise Zabini, from the flames. I believe the tragedy brought us together, neither of us could save those we loved and Malfoy promised me that he'd support me and my baby…and he did. I owe him everything I've got, literally!"_

_**- **__**GRAY & GREEN, GO GREEN OR JUST TOO MUCH TO DRINK?- **_

_Even after the sudden and mysterious deaths of twenty-four members of the Ministry assigned to protect and secure at all times the life of the Minister of Magic - Draco Malfoy (20) – in the course of the last few __months, the Minister dismissed all rumors of getting poisoned - along with two of his former classmates - at the Green & Gray Slytherin's Quidditch Glory Party held last night. When he was stopped this morning right outside St. Mungo's hospital, despite being jealously escorted by a protective squadron of aurors that hardly leave his sight when he's at a public place, the young Minister devoted a few minutes of his time to talk to the press, bring calm to the citizens the Wizardry World and even denote a friendly tone that made suspect he could be still under the residual effects of an hallucinogen toxin or maybe too much alcohol in his drink when he came to shake hands enthusiastically with this reporter [exact quote]: "High five! Low five! Down low! Too slow! Go Slytherin go! Woohoo! The only thing that encouraged me to go to that party was because I wanted to honor the memory of Blaise Zabini, my best friend. He was by far the best chaser Slytherin's team ever had, but most important of all he was a true hero: inside as well as outside the Quidditch field. He saved the lives of countless students from Hogwarts, my family included. Blaise saved my wife's life when she was still pregnant with my heir the night the Death Eaters kidnapped the teacher's staff and plotted the murder of its former Headmaster. I've lost count of how many times Blaise pulled me out from a most imminent death. He always looked after me like an elder brother would have done. The void he'd left is one impossible to fill…he's deeply missed. I don't recall how many toasts I've made in his name. They must have been a lot, trying to match the number of people Blaise had saved, for the last thing I remember before passing out was Daphne Greengrass screaming at me as I was laying face down on the floor of the girl's loo with Crabble and Goyle throwing up on the lavatories scarce feet away from me. I don't know how the three of us ended up there, probably because that was the closest bathroom. By the time I've regained conscience I've found myself no longer in the loo but in a hospital bed. I'm a vegetarian, that's what'd spared me from the intoxication Goyle and Crabble are still suffering from after ingesting too much red meat at the party, probably something in the sauce. Those two developed a mild stomach complain, nothing serious, but they'd certainly need to remain under observation for the next 48 hours. I've checked myself out earlier because I just can't wait to see my family. They had to follow the standard security measures for these cases and were refrained from visiting me at the hospital. I appreciate the huge amount of getting well cards, gifts and tokens that people left for me at the hospital. My boy, Scorpius Hyperion, turns three in a couple of days…he'd love all the extra stuffed animals and toys he's going to receive this year! Now, regarding the vast amount of exotic bouquets I've received, I'm proud to confirm that no flower – no matter how exquisite or rare - would ever outshine the unmatched beauty and sweetness of the precious rose I'm married to, my beloved wife, Luna Malfoy."_

**- PAST CAN'T CHANGE…WE DO- **

_When being asked about his past t__he Minister of Magic – Draco Malfoy (21) – points out that [exact quote]: "What determines the kind of person a man truly is? Definitely not the type of situations he'd endured but how he'd acted during those situations…by what he'd chose to do and what he'd decided to leave behind." _

_The brutal end of his mother's life – Narcissa Black (murdered at the age of 42) – by the hands of his own father – Lucius Malfoy (missing at the age 43) – was the initiator of the turnaround in Draco Malfoy's life. The only statement we could recollect so far of the Minister talking about his parents was this [exact quote]: "I respected my father, but I loved my mother." _

_Brought up and trained to become a Death Eater, this young man's tenancy born out from his personal misery, loss and pain had shaped a marked determination in his character, forcing him to sustain an open opposition to his upbringing that lead him to be the sole responsible for the resounding defeat of Lord Voldemort and his followers and the restoration of the Wizardry World peace and order. _

_**- OLD FLAMES DIE HARD -**_

_It's been over two years since the wife of the Minister of Magic, Luna __Lovegood-Malfoy (21), was last seen supporting her husband during one of his public speeches. In reply to the horde of rumors stating that the young couple's marriage was on the rocks, Draco Malfoy (22) limited to say [exact quote]: "My wife is my life." When inquired about his repeated apparitions in public with __Alecto Carrow (27) – a half-blood tiny and plain witch __of questionable reputation __because of her outspoken hatred towards muggle-borns wizards and witches in the past and whose passion for both magic and non-magic weaponry and her inclination towards the Dark Arts almost secured her a place at Azkaban shortly after the fall of Voldemort - the Minister acknowledged [exact quote] "Two years ago our paths crossed again during a most strange event. What started as a harmless jinx some students come up with in order to delay the year's start of terms at school developed into something out of control when an unexpected fire started at Platform 9 3/4 and the Hogwarts Express got practically burnt out. Alecto Carrow was supposed to fill the place __Charity Burbage__, professor of Muggle Studies, left vacant after she retired. I know Alecto since I was seven years old; she was the one who'd taught me how to defend myself properly without using magic but my own body as weapon. She also trained me in the handling of non-magical weapons such as knives, swords, bows and arrows. It was going to be a complete waste of her talents if I let her teach that class at Hogwarts, she needed something different, something challenging. Once I've finally succeeded to convince her of rejecting the teaching position I've hired her as my personal bodyguard. That's why she is with me whenever I appear in public. Yes, we did share a lot of common interests in the past and we still do. I've always admired how she disciplined herself in body and mind to achieve the goals she set in her life. I do care about her in many different aspects and my relationship with her is both professional and personal but it's remotely like the tabloids had described. Alecto might not be the stereotype of beauty, like most or you reporters use to label her when displaying her photos, but she's extremely intelligent and a very skillful fighter. Those qualities combined are rare to find in a woman and that's exactly what makes her stand out from the rest in a unique way. She's might weight only ninety-three pounds and be scarcely five feet tall but she can easily bring to the floor a six point five feet tall man of two hundred and fifty pounds in the blink of an eye without having to take out her wand. Before any of your sources distort the truth I'd like to confirm the information myself: Yes, I did have a crush on Alecto when I was younger but it never surpassed the platonic stage. Unlimited were the truths she exposed to me as an educator in my eager search for knowledge but when I wanted to unveil her mysteries as a woman she made certain to set the boundaries between us. I must confess that only fueled the firm conviction and determination that encompassed all through my teenager's turmoiled phase to tear down her unyielding unwillingness to see me as a man. But like I've said before, Alecto is a terrific fighter. I've ended up paying the price of my stubbornness very painfully, literally spitting blood. As time past by my respect for her, along with my sense of self-preservation, quieted my raging hormones and I've realized that it wasn't unwillingness but the unquestionable dedication towards her work what kept her from letting me in." _

_When questioned about the gossiping of their being involved romantically now that the Minister is no longer a student of hers, Alecto replied with a funny giggle [exact quote]: "Every woman in the Wizardry World would agree with me when I say that Draco Malfoy is everything we want in a man: he is charismatic, well-mannered, cultivated, quick-witted, enchanting…a true gentleman. He'd always been like that. Even then, when he was just a child, Draco made quite an impression the very first moment I met him, fifteen years ago. I was mesmerized by his many inherited qualities, yes, but I knew perfectly well which was my place. Nevertheless, with the passing of the years and because we'd come across many challenges together I ended up growing fond of him, who wouldn't? Despite our age gap doesn't weight as much as it did before, whenever I look at Draco I still see that small boy forced to grow up very quickly and eager to prove to himself and to the world what he's capable of. My relationship with him is strictly professional and I know exactly where I'm standing: my job is to safeguard his physical integrity. If Draco assigned me this task is because he knows I'd never dare to jeopardize the trust he deposited in me and it's because I care about Draco the way I do that I'm committed to fulfill my duties accordingly."_

_**- **__**DRACO MALFOY'S WELTANSCHHAUUNG – DRACO MALFOY'S "OUTLOOK ON THE WIZARDRY WORLD" -**_

_After the shocking news of the "Death Eaters__' Amnesty Law" approved three years ago by the Minister of Magic in which the living members of the Dark Army were absolved of their charges and granted the chance to reinsert themselves in the Wizardry World with clean records despite their past affiliation and connection with Lord Voldemort, today the Minister signed the "Werewolve's Tolerance Treaty" rising a turmoil of encountered opinions. _

_Some detractors accused Draco Malfoy - __(22) German naturalized a year ago - __of having created the former Amnesty Law and this Treaty to cover-up a thoroughly census along with a strict and rigid control over the number of dark wizards and witches and the infected people by the lycan syndrome that are still living in the Wizardry World. In his defense the Minister replied [exact quote]: "__Völkisch __gesellschaft!"_

_What the Minister was talking about in his naturalized language was about a society without distinctions or divisions of class or blood status. When speaking about his outlook of the Wizardry World and his revolutionary decisions he said [exact quote]: "Subject of stares and prejudices many wizards and witches stand alone, unprotected, hated by everybody, marked as traitors __before they got the chance to speak in their defense because they're denied of their rights. As long as those __infected with lycanthropy __take their regular doses of the potion to stop them from turning during full moon they represent no threat whatsoever to themselves neither to the community. The doses are given away for free at St. Mungo's Hospital where the benefit of privacy is assured to each and every patient unless they want to speak up like Remus __John __Lupin did. Eight years ago Lupin was appointed as D.A.D.A professor at Hogwarts but resigned from his position once his condition came to light. Thanks to this Treaty he'd be re-admitted at Hogwarts – the position was left vacant due to the impossibility of Severus Snape, currently Headmaster of that school, to cover both positions - and would be able to teach the new generations how to stand up and defend themselves against adversity." _

_**- **__**DEMOLITION OF AZKABAN SET FOR TODAY AT NOON -**_

_The Minister of Magic – Draco Malfoy (22) – had made the boldest decision ever: __order the demolition of Azkaban's prison. His detractors wonder whether he is in a sound state of mind or if they might not have caught his words rightly or that they had misunderstood what he meant. But the young Minister had explained his ideas with full determination and seriousness [exact quote]: "People are not won by the written word nor by the spoken word but with actions. In the course of these last four years as Minister of Magic I've proved countless times that my ideas are the exact reflection of my actions. We've learnt to live in harmony in spite of our differences. We're not determined, limited not shall be labeled by the purity of our blood or the mistakes those before us forced upon us. We've got to stop branding ourselves with the invisible marks of intolerance and hatred. The prison of Azkaban was created to corrupt even more, to the point of destruction, those wizards and witches imprisoned there. Its goal was never to rehabilitate them but to torture them into nonexistence. The assigned guards, the Dementors, are nothing but devious creatures of death that feed with the Light of those who have sinned. Yes, we all have Light within us, it's called Life, and the reason why salvation exists in first place is because there are sinners!" Referring to those still imprisoned there, the Minister acknowledged [exact quote]: "What's left of those wizards and witches, mentally ill and physically deteriorated, would be relocated at St. Mungo's psychiatric wing. The facilities of that part of the hospital had been fully modified to provide a safe and secure environment for both the interns and the medical staff."_

Startled by the sound of voices coming from outside the door, the blond boy slammed his clippings folder shut and checked the mantel clock over the fireplace. It was a quarter to eleven in the night: his parents had arrived earlier than expected. Gulping soundly, nervously, he got rid of his father's pajama jacket, re-arranged the pillow in its place and stretched the mattress neatly in record time. With a wandless flick of his left wrist he extinguished the fire just by the time the door of the bedroom opened in synchronicity with the boy's closing the closet's door, leaving it slightly open to peek though it.

"Incendio!" Pointed out with her wand an out of breath and visible upset beautiful, slender young woman and the fireplace regain once again its life.

She was around twenty-one years old, waist long dirty blond hair and glassy amethyst blue eyes. Her long black satin strapless night dress contrasted exquisitely with her smooth milk-white skin.

Resting a hand against one of the carved ebony wood posts of the bed she started taking off one of her high heel shoes and squeezed it tight in her hand, as if releasing all of the sudden the anger and impotence she held inside. "It was my father's funeral, a day to honor and remember his good name but the press turned everything into a tragic parade."

A young and incredibly handsome ponytailed blond man – a year older than her - of piercing pearl-gray eyes replied tonelessly. "Well, your father was in the news business and those starving crows are always eager to take our eyes off. No matter how many aurors I've assigned to guard the cemetery premises, it was expected something like this would happen." He then paused to exhale soundly, he looked relieved. "Even if he'd missed the chance to say goodbye to his grandfather, I've made a right decision by not taking our son with us: the safety of my heir would always come first."

"First my mother…then Neville…then Harry…and now my dad…" She shook her head twice, forcing herself not to cry.

Throwing the jacket of his black suit and his tie over a chair, Draco looked suddenly melancholic. "Luna, you're not the only one who'd lost a parent or a best friend."

Placing a hand over his chest, his long fingers caressed the sterling locket that hanged around his neck, the same one that once belonged to Blaise with the photos of the two when they were children. Shaking his head twice, as if wanting to get rid of those tormenting feelings, Draco walked the short distance that separated him from Luna and leaned forward.

Burying his head in the crook of her neck, Draco said with a sad voice that carried an angsty bubbling tone beneath. "The mere thought of losing you terrifies me. I know I wouldn't be able to survive a single day without you."

Luna sucked up a soundly sob.

"Have I told you lately how lucky I am for having you by my side, princess?" He hissed softly, leaving a trail of kisses along her throat while losing his fingers in her hair.

As Draco pressed his tall and slim body against hers, his accelerated heartbeats - exited and frantic - resounded past his ears. When his hands rested on her hips, Luna shivered with anticipation.

"Kiss me, but do it like you mean it." He moaned painfully against her lips, slowly lifting her dress.

But Luna pursed her lips, refusing to do it. Despite his touch was soft and tender, her eyes saddened completely the moment she felt him pulling down her panties before unzipping his pants. "Draco, no, I've just lost my father, I'm not in the mood."

Draco's eyes narrowed and all traces of kindness left his face, his expression darkened.

Feeling a growl crawling up his throat, he shot back. "You're _never _in the mood, but soon you'll be."

"You and I, we're alive. Let me remind you how that feels like." Reaching Luna's lips Draco kissed her deeply, his tongue seeking access to enter and explore her reluctant mouth.

When he started biting softly, insistently her lower lip Luna had no option but to part her lips, granting him full access but her whole body started shivering like a leaf, she looked terrified.

Soft unsuppressed moans of pleasure were escaping from his throat as Draco continued to kiss Luna and the electric impulses started coursing all over his body, focusing more and more latent on his aching manhood.

Without breaking the kiss, Draco released his hardness from the prison of his briefs and hurled her body up - wrapping Luna's legs around his waist - before both fell onto the bed, Draco on top, Luna laying on her back.

Passion mounted and his heart, pounding through his aching chest. Draco rubbed his already dripping hard member against her tight entrance.

"Come on princess, you want this as much as I do." He panted, pressing his sweaty forehead against hers as some of his loose long blond strands of hair brushed her cheeks.

"Please Draco, spare me just this one, I can't do this tonight." Squeezing her eyes shut, a tear rolled down one of her pale cheeks.

"No exceptions." Without wasting time to find out in which part of her dress was the zipper or the row of buttons, Draco ripped the ethereal fabric of her strapless corset with one forced pull and sank his head in between her breasts, humming teasingly.

He then started licking with the tip of his tongue her nipples, nibbling her already perky nipples with a devilish smirk curling his lips. "You're loving this, I know you do."

Noticing the diminishing resistance of her body, Draco trailed one finger around her slick flesh and slipped it inside, shortly after that he added another finger – continuing with the intensely masterful scissoring - and by the time the third finger made its way inside her Luna was dripping with the juices of her arousal. "You're a gorgeous and exquisitely perfumed rose, fully bloomed, eager to be plucked."

Luna hated how Draco's sinful touches made her throat lock, preventing her from denying his words. No matter how she tried to deny it, she couldn't stop her body from reacting the way it did whenever he touched her.

"I'm going to give myself completely to you, everything I've got, just for you, only you, always you." Draco entered her, thrusting deeper and deeper inside Luna in perfect synchronism with the unconscious movement of her hips. "Yes, that's it. Take me all inside you."

"It feels so …ah…good …oh gods!" He cried with a high-pitch tone as Luna kept her eyes closed but her lips were slightly parted, panting, and her accelerated pulse start climbing higher and higher.

"I'm a fool for loving you but I can't stop feeling the way I do, you'll be the death of me. You make me weak and vulnerable." Draco confessed, brushing his lips against hers before kissing her again, his tongue sliding in and out her mouth teasingly, ravishing her lips with the same aching desperation he was pounding inside her body as his pace got faster.

The Slytherin felt himself getting closer and started moaning her name over and over again while pressing his lips against her half-closed mouth. As he continued to move in compass with the feverish language of her body, Draco wanted both of them to reach their climax and came together.

"Luna, open your eyes and look at me." His voice was low and husky.

But in reply she spun her head to the side, covering her blushed glistening sweaty cheeks with both hands.

Ringing his long fingers around her wrists he lifted her arms above her head and fixed his lusty stare on her closed-shut eyes. "You want me as much as I want you. You love this, the way your body craves for me and aches for more. Don't deny it, don't deny me!" He snapped angrily, thrusting in again and again.

"Finish…it…already." Luna gasped through her breath, refusing to open her eyes.

Keeping the fast pace of his thrusting, Draco was literally burning, knocking on the doors of his climax. "LOOK AT ME!" He roared as his body was racked with an orgasmic wave.

"I DESPISE YOU!" Luna shouted angrily as her own body exploded with the orgasmic pleasure she could no longer deny or fight back.

"FINE, HATE ME ALL YOU WANT, DAMMIT!" Draco screamed angrily as another wave of his orgasm released right trough him and he tilted his head back, coming inside her, filling her.

Exhausted, Draco collapsed, panting, on top of Luna but he didn't withdraw himself from inside her, not yet.

"No matter how much you despise me, I'm your husband. It's useless to keep running away from me: I'd always find you. Next time you dare to plot your getaway I swear I'd ravage you five times a day instead of just once before we go to sleep, you hear me?" He warned her with a low, husky voice.

"If you really loved me, then you'd set me free but you keep treating me as if I were one of your game pieces. I'm not your pawn!" Luna turned her face away from him, she was disgusted with herself with the way Draco could easily do whatever he wanted with her body…and control her life.

Draco brushed with the fingers of one hand the perspiration of his forehead, combing those loose silk blond long strands of hair away from his face and smirked darkly. "You're right, you're not my pawn: you're my queen."

Tears were already spilling shamelessly down her cheeks. "You might have fooled everyone but I know what you're doing: you're gathering an army to tear down the increasing number of your detractors. You've got each and every dark wizard in the Wizardry World under your wing, and by demolishing Azkaban you've earned their full and blind loyalty. Your thirst for power has no limits. You're going to destroy everything!"

"Luna, there's something about being around you that calms the darkness inside me. As long as you're by my side I can perfectly control it and I'm using it in my favor, _everybody's_ favor. I'm giving what people needs: security, peace, a future…hope!! I wish you'd trust me, confide in me a little. But no matter what I do, I'd still be miles away from being the man you need, am I right?!" Draco's face flushed with rage.

"You've got what you wanted, now get off me!" With an infuriated yelp, Luna tried to buck Draco from on top of her but not to avail.

"I'd never get enough of you and that's exactly what keeps me coming and _coming _for more. I'm addicted to you." Rocking slowly his hips against hers, his greedy manhood still deep buried inside her, he whispered hoarsely. "I want us to have another child, you make beautiful babies."

Luna's desperate cry was quieted immediately when Draco pressed his mouth against her, kissing her lips roughly, assuming position again as his libido rebuilt itself, swelling, hardening him. "Look at Scorpius, he's perfect in every sense of the word but he's a lonely boy. He's lacking the company of a brother…or a sister. Let's give our son a baby sister as lovely and as adorable as his mother."

Looking sick and pale, Luna grabbed Draco by his shoulders, trying to push him away but that only encouraged him to thrust deeper, harder and faster inside her. "Scorpius can't be my son! The things I've dreamt during those seven months they were no hallucinations, they were no nightmares. Those were visions of Hell itself and it was real!"

"WHAT?!" Draco opened wide his pearl-gray eyes and froze in shock and that was when Luna squeezed her from under his weight and managed to roll to a side over the bed.

With a lighting fast move Draco caught her from behind and spoon his body against hers. "Why would you say such a terrible thing?! I know you don't love me but don't take it out on our son! Can't you see that he's _afraid _of you?" He scolded her with a sad, angry voice.

"That's because everytime he looks at me, he sees the embodiment of death: he'd confessed that I was meant to be his deathbed. Draco, I'm the one who's scared of him." Luna said with marked terror in her trembling voice without turning to face him.

"He'd probably said that because he was born prematurely, in a fragile body. I'm aware that created a deep trauma inside him but he's a tough fighter and I couldn't be more proud of him." Spooning his body hermetically against hers, Draco hushed her with a tense voice. "Scorpius would never, _ever_ do something that'd hurt or upset us. On the contrary, he's always trying so hard to please us! There's no doubt he inherited your artistic skills. His paintings are remarkable, breathtaking and I'm not saying that because I'm his father. Remember the five feet portrait he made of us three, the one that I've had it hanged from the wall of my office at the Ministry? Well, I've received many extremely generous offers from those who'd like to acquire it despite I'd rather cut off my right arm than let go of it. I'm constantly asked about who painted it and no-one ever believes me when I told them that the artist is our five year old boy. The director of the Arts Museum even asked me to convince Scorpius of accepting the offering to tutor such child prodigy. I believe this would be great opportunity for our boy to expand his passion for the arts, what do you think?"

"He did not learn it from me…nor inherit _anything_ from me either." Luna shook her head in denial. "Scorpius is remotely interested in pursuing an artistic career. He only started painting when he heard you complementing my sketches. He made it very clear that he doesn't want me around for he could perfectly outbeat me in everything I do. Scorpius had always rejected the possibility of someone else tutoring him besides you or leaving your side for that matter. He doesn't even want to go to Hogwarts. He prefers to be taught at home and that's because he says he wouldn't endure stay away from you for that long."

"I know that he's reluctant about going to Hogwarts. It's okay to feel homesick at first, it's a big change, but he won't be alone, Snape is the Headmaster. He'd take proper care of our child while he's at school. Besides, Scorpius got two acquaintances of his age: Ted Lupin and Rose Granger. They might all end up in the same House…" Draco paused and his cheeks went a tint of sick green. "Oh Merlin, don't let our boy end up in Gryffindor, any House but Gryffindor!"

"Scorpius is a natural-born Slytherin." Luna snorted faintly. "He accepted, practically forced himself, to socialize with Rose only because_ you_ are her godfather and he treats Ted as if he were a pet, a puppy, only because _you_ saved the child's life by assisting your cousin while giving birth. Scorpius would only take interest in something or someone as long as they're of importance to _you_: everything he does is meant to please _you_."

"I don't know what got into me when I've accepted to become the godfather of such annoyingly bossy little half-blood bastard, that was your fault." Draco complained, combing the fingers of one hand Luna's hair, smelling her perfume. "Come to think about it, Ted is sort of a puppy, he's a lycan." He finished mockingly with a dark smirk.

She half-turned to look at him from the corner of the eye. "So you're starting to make differences because Rose is an illegitimate child and Ted is a werewolf? What happened with your Tolerance Laws and Treaties?"

"That's _not_ what I've meant. I'm just talking about the people our son already knows that would be at Hogwarts with him when the time comes. I don't want him to feel lonely while he's away studying, that's all." Draco pursed his lips tight and shook his head. "I know I should be spending more quality time with our son, being the Minister of Magic had always demanded a lot of my time and attention but that's no excuse. I'm trying my best to build up Scorpius' tolerance so that he won't look down on others less _fortunate_ than him as well as strengthen his self-esteem, encouraging him to be always true to himself and fight for his happiness. He's got an unmatching empathy but I'm afraid that's exactly what's pushing him down. He keeps saying that he's ashamed of himself and his feelings. He's used to blame himself aforehead, stating he doesn't want to distress us or cause us trouble."

"Of course that child should be ashamed of himself, the way Scorpius loves you is sickening. The things he does when you're not around are disturbing." Once Luna realized what she'd just said she placed one hand over her mouth to stop herself from saying another word and started trembling with fear.

"You're keeping secrets away from me_ again_?!" Turning her body to face him, Draco cupped her cheek, tilting Luna's face until they were eye-to-eye. "You'd better tell me right now what makes you say things like that about our son, starting with the nightmares you had once you were pregnant. Speak, now!"

Narrowing angrily her amethyst-blue eyes, she replied defiantly. "You're better off without knowing, trust me."

"I've _always_ trusted you but the root of the problem is that you'd _never _trusted me back!" Changing drastically the angle of his emotions, Draco spoke with a tense yet quiet voice that denoted an accented perplexity and confusion. "Luna, help me understand what's going on. What did Scorpius do that I'm unaware of?"

Luna opened her mouth but closed it shut immediately, after trying a third time she finally mumbled. "Draco, his face…his face _glows_ whenever you two touch. Didn't you ever stop to think what could possibly trigger that in Scorpius and why is only with you?"

"I did actually." Rubbing his chin with a pensive manner he added. "Our boy has a very powerful energetical magic. He's an extremely shy child and he's not physically demonstrative so there are scarce chances to see how he'd react when he's interacting with other people beside us."

"It's not shyness but a complete lack of interest in making contact with other people and what Scorpius experiences whenever you two touch is an explosive physical and psychic magical discharge that ripples inside him and manifests into both an intern and extern _pleasurable _glowing." Luna said with a nauseating face.

Draco gasped soundly with both shock and alarm; a hurtful look crossed his face when he looked at one of his trembling hands.

"You're implying that whenever I hold or hug him I'm _stigmatizing _our son?! You firmly believe that I'm so filthy and rotten inside that I can't get close to anyone without corrupting them, is that who I am to you?!" He asked focusing around him, his voice shaking with rage and impotence.

"Draco, not everything is about _you._ I'm talking about Scorpius and the way he follows you around like a shadow. He looks up to you and idolizes you to the point of your becoming his obsession. When you're not around he literally locks himself inside his bedroom and no-one can reach him." Shaking her head furiously, Luna started sobbing. "During the day he uses some part of your clothes underneath his and when he goes to sleep never wears his pajamas but your old school shirts. He spends countless hours staring at your photos and awards with a yearning face, he…"

But Draco cut her abruptly. "Luna, if you're talking about my old trunks with my Slytherin uniforms, school-year photo albums, Quidditch gear and Potion awards_ I_ gave all those things to him to play with but most important to encourage Scorpius to go to Hogwarts. I know he's skeptic about being away from home that long. I just thought it'd be okay to show all the things the school has to offer so that he'd be mentally prepared and don't get upset the day the letter of acceptance arrives once he turns eleven."

Nodding apologetically, she hissed. "I…I haven't slept well since I've lost my father and after what happened tonight at his funeral, it made me feel extremely upset. I need to go to the bathroom."

Unwrapping reluctantly his arms from around her tiny waist, Draco set Luna free from the trap of his embrace. "Let me comfort you for the loss of your father, we can go everywhere you want. Let's take a vacation, somewhere nice away from the Ministry, away from the press, from the past…"

"_Away from you?"_ Her voice came with a thread of voice so subtle that it came out from her lips as a painful unheard hiss. "And away from Scorpius?" She finished, this time her voice did reach Draco's ears.

"Actually I was thinking about a holiday trip that would consolidate our family bonds but we do deserve to have a second honeymoon. This would help you relax a little and open up to me more." Draco paused with a lusty, selfish smirk curling his pale lips before adding tonelessly. "There are only two people I'd trust to take care of our boy while we're away. Snape had always spoiled Scorpius like a grandson but he's too busy with his duties as Headmaster to keep a close eye on our child. So if it's not him then it has to be Alecto. She grew very fond of our child. Scorpius even denoted a marked enthusiasm with her vast knowledge of non-magical weaponry. I do believe that spending time with her would end up benefiting Scorpius. Yes, that settles it then. I'd speak with Alecto first thing in the morning."

"I want to be away from everything and as far as possible from everyone." Luna looked exhausted and incredibly sad_. _"I need to be alone."

After rearranging her torn dress she dried the tears from her cheeks with an open palm and made her way to the bathroom, locking the door shut behind her.

Draco then pulled up his pants and rolled to the left side - his side - of the bed. He untied the silk thread around his shoulder length blond hair before knitting the fingers of both hands behind his head. With the passing of the minutes Draco sighed soundly, annoyingly.

"This means that you're going to sleep in the bathtub _again_?" He demanded to know, his rage was both fierce and controlled.

But no reply came from the other side of the door.

"Come to the bed princess, here it's warm and smooth…but it's so empty without you…I need you…I love you…" Draco said with an aggressiveness that contradicted the tenderness of his words.

A vivid green flash of light of a killing curse coming from under the bathroom's door made Draco jump from the bed and come rushing towards the bathroom. Blasting the door open, the blond Slytherin stepped inside as the dust from the blasting spell suddenly cleared and found the dead body of his wife lying inside the bathtub, her stiffed hand still clenching tight from her wand.

Struggling to stay on his feet, Draco's expression drained completely of color but didn't show any other sign of emotion. Draco couldn't speak. He couldn't take his eyes off Luna as they grew wider. Recoiling in horror, he felt sick with guilt. He bit his lip to keep from crying out as he tried to remain calm in the worst nightmare of his life.

Something called the attention from the corner of his eye. Once he turned to a side he caught a glimpse of himself on the mirror and was startled by what he saw. Written with red lipstick, Luna's words assaulted him with no mercy: HAD ENOUGH. His reflection, denoting his terrified face, was distorted to the extreme of his shock.

"What have I done?!" His voice came in a painful, neurotic yelp, completely broken.

As his wide open pearl-gray eyes examined Luna's ghostly white flesh tone he repaired on her glassy blank eyes: an emotionless void morbidly beautiful.

Draco stood immobile like that for a long moment as conflicting emotions played inside him. He then closed shut his eyes - for the tears were already blinding him - and aimed his wand towards the side of his temple. "Avada…"

"FATHER!" The startling whip-lash shout that came from behind him made Draco's blood turn to ice, it literally froze his body and brought him at once back to his senses.

The moment Draco spun his head and looked desperately helpless at his son, he noticed that the door of the closet was open.

His mouth opened and closed several times before Draco was able to voice his thoughts. "Scorpius, son…you've been hiding in there…all this time?"

Scorpius pursed his lips looking pensive, doubt hiding in their depths, but then he shrugged almost apologetically. "I never meant to disobey an order. I know I'm not allowed to be in your bedroom but since you were out I thought I could stay, just for a little while. Problem is that you arrived two hours earlier than I've expected and I couldn't dissaparate....not without my wand. You've forbidden me to use it without your supervision, for my own safety's sake."

Staring from the corner of his smoke-gray eyes the dead body of Luna, Scorpius looked completely unmoved and unaffected with her death.

"Father, why would you want to harm yourself?" Despite the stillness of the child's voice, there was a vibrating anger behind it.

Draco was on the verge of a major breakdown. He looked completely heartbroken, devastated and then he started to shake badly. Cupping with one hand Blaise's locket, Draco stared at it with a distant and lost look.

"It's a long wait, isn't it?" Scorpius asked fixing his pearl-gray eyes on the sterling locket that hanged around his father's neck. "He loved you…but he did it selflessly. He would never have agreed with the idea of seeing you again before your time."

Unable to bring himself to speak or to stop the rapid deterioration of his body, his weak knees sent Draco crushing to the floor.

Narrowing his gaze with a confused frown, Scorpius tilted his head to the side. "You told me there's no need to use our wands inside the house because our home is the safest place. I'd put your wand besides mine in your office on the display stand right behind grandmother's portrait for her to watch over them. Is that okay?"

Fixing his watery eyes at his son's pale face, Draco hissed. "Yes..."

Leaning forward, Scorpius took the wand from his father's unyielding grip and stuffed it in his pajama's pocket.

"Father, what is it that you feeling?" The child inquired because with the passing of the minutes he was finding harder to decipher Draco's emotions.

"Feel?" Draco repeated numbly, as if anesthetized from head to toe. By then he felt nothing, a complete void, as if he were already dead, completely dead inside.

He then grabbed Scorpius' hand, placing it over his heart. "You tell me, son. Is it still beating?"

Scorpius face glowed beautifully the moment it touched Draco. "Yes." He answered looking right into his father's teary eyes.

Draco started chocking with sound, hollow sobs when he spoke again. "Is it?" He asked, finding hard to believe it for he felt…he simply stopped feeling.

Smirking brightly, the small boy confessed. "Yes and I can tell you how it makes me feel: it gives me relief, comfort, safety…it makes me feel happy. That's why I'd make sure it never stops beating."

Leveling his blood-shot eyes with his son's pearl-gray gems, Draco's facial features hardened. He then shook his head in a negative motion and spitted angrily. "Wrong answer."

"I know." Scorpius' smirk dropped from his face, his pale skin became even whiter. "But I can't tell you what you want to hear. I can't lie…to you." He added with a hiss of voice.

Fighting against a crawling knot on his throat, trying to keep his voice steady, Draco lectured. "Remember son, you're the future of the Malfoy's Clan: you're the one who'd succeed me. You'd not only inherit the family's fortune and possessions but also the Wizardry World. Don't make the same mistakes I did: don't allow your feelings become your weaknesses. Weak spots would be the death of you. Don't get too attached to anyone because it'd make you lose control and power. You can't allow yourself to low your guard ever, if you do people would take that opportunity to use you and hurt you. You've always got to take care of yourself because if you don't then no-one else will. Don't let the vultures feed from you, use them and then smother them before they got their chance to get to you. You always have to come first because, unlike the rest, you're irreplaceable." He said breathing against the back of his son's hand before dropping numbly both arms to the sides of his body.

Scorpius felt a surge of desire the second Draco's lips brushed the skin of his hand. Impulsively, he cuddled his infant body against Draco's chest – pressing his head against his father's heart - and wrapped his short arms around the young man's slim waist.

"Don't worry father, I'd procure everything you need in order to be happy, you deserve to have it all." He soothed with a tender, soft tone so subtle that it was almost unheard.

"Happiness does not apply for men like us, we're Malfoys." Draco padded the top of his son's head before grabbing Scorpius gently but firm by one shoulder - retrieving the wand from his son's pocket - and pushed softly the child away from him as he got up. "Go to your room. Now."

"But I want to stay with you tonight and keep you company. Can I, please?" The small boy pleaded with an anguish thread of voice.

"I've already told you: we Malfoys don't beg!" Draco then clamped his teeth hard, shaking his head looking furious with himself. "Scorpius, it's past your bedtime, go to sleep."

"No." Taking sit on the floor, the boy crossed his arms over his small chest and narrowed his eyes, staring fixedly at his father without blinking. "I'm not leaving your side. You're in no condition to be left alone right now."

Combing angrily his shoulder length silk blond hair back with both hands, Draco shot back. "You're disobeying a direct order and this means that I'd have to punish you: I'd forbid you to use your wand until you're eleven." He warned.

Shrugging carelessly, the small blond rested his back against the bathroom's door and sighed soundly. "Fair enough, I shouldn't have been using it until I reach that age."

Draco whipped a blazing harsh stare before snapping out completely. "I'm sending you with Granger and her daughter! You'd stay there and help them with their daily chores!"

Scorpius felt his heart skip a beat. "For how long?" He inquired with a shaky voice.

"Until I say so!" The elder sentenced angrily.

The child's chin quivered. "Father, don't send me away." It was a plea, overlaid with instinctive fear.

"It's settled. You're going." Draco smirked merciless.

He then leaned forward to grab Scorpius by his armpits and lift the child up but froze when his son's eyes flickered with iridescent reddish light. "If I part from you then won't be able to stop the sickness from taking me over. If you leave me alone with those two women I'll hurt them. I'll burn their house with their dead bodies inside and make it look like an accident…a most unfortunate accident."

Draco swallowed hard, he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

The small blond got up from the floor, rearranged carefully his pajamas and asked with an immutable face. "Do you still want me to go?"

Draco started mumbling some incoherent words in his shocked state before he managed to say. "No."

Clenching the Elder Wand in his shaky hand, Draco stared at Luna's dead body from the corner of his eyes. His mind started to spin with a swirl of unrelated thoughts that this time Scorpius read right away. He small blond also defined clearly each and every one of the emotions that struck his father at that moment.

Curling his small hands into tight fists, the boy emptied his lungs out in a frightening scream. "You've already given her a second chance and look how she ended up repaying you! Life is a gift and it's supposed to be treasured…not thrown away! She died because she wished for it! She doesn't deserve to be saved again!"

A deafening rumbling sound shook the walls and the porcelain tiles started to fall onto the floor, the mirror reduced itself into countless fractals that went flying into the air, piercing Luna's flesh all the way through, butchering her body into pieces as the bathtub started filling itself with her blood.

The moment Draco turned to look at his son there was a hate in Scorpius' eyes that it wasn't human at all. "She isn't your wife anymore! Look at her for what she is now: carrion!"

Draco's eyes widened in shock, but then –as if stricken by an unexpected mood swing – his gaze turned empty, a blank.

"_Luna is dead…dead…__she's dead…"_ Draco heard taking to himself like an echo, trying to grasp the meaning of what he was saying.

Feeling a small hand pulling from the tip of his shirt, Draco ducked his head down to face his son.

"I'm here." Scorpius paused and tightened the grip - grabbing a fistful of his father's shirt in between his fingers - his eyes were immediately filled with pain and sorrow. "And I'll continue to be as long as you want me to…as long as you need me…and I'm useful to you..." He chocked in between sobs, forcing himself no to cry.

Draco's pale complexion became clammingly ash-white in a beat.

"Scorpius, son, you're not only my flesh and blood but also the embodiment of my pride. You know that, don't you?" He confessed with a torn, broken voice while brushing softly with his fingers the long silk blond blocks away from his son's pale face.

The child nodded in silence, his lips curling with a trembling smirking smile. He then encircled his short arms around one of Draco's legs, pressing his cheek against the soft fabric of his father's pants and gave a sigh of relief.

Once he repaired on the fact that there were splinters of glass and broken porcelain tiles spread all over the floor, Draco picked up Scorpius immediately, cuddling his son protectively in his arms.

"How many times I've told you not to walk barefoot around the house?" Draco scolded with a diminishing angsty voice.

"I love you too." Scorpius whispered in his ear with a musical voice. He then nuzzled in the warmth of his father's neck and – feeling comfy but also sleepy – he closed shut his eyes.

Draco then turned to look at what was left of Luna's body, hurt and anger warred his narrowed eyes. _"Luna, I've given myself completely to you and I loved you…the only way I knew how. I've done everything in my power to make things better for you and for the citizens of the Wizardry World but it wasn't enough…it's never enough. I'm done giving. If you people can't appreciate what I've done so far, then I'd take it all away. It's not after losing everything that one understand the importance of things."_

llllllllllllllllllEnd of Scorpius' Memorylllllllllllllllllllllll

Snapping out of his nightmarish vision, Draco opened his mismatched eyes without realizing they were closed. The pain inside his head was acute and maddening. Forcing his mind to the present - as the wave of dizziness slowly faded from inside his head - he rubbed his forehead and shoot up to a sitting position.

Gazing around with unfocused eyes, Draco didn't feel as though he was in his own body, let alone back where he was supposed to be – wherever that place was – and kept rubbing his temples. He then looked at his hands and the rest of his body, denoting that he was completely unharmed and dressed with his silk black shirt, black leather pants and black snake leather hooded duster…and he had no longer the Time-Turner hanging from his neck. Scarce feet away from him laid the stiffed dead bodies of Voldemort and Peter Pettigrew.

"For fuck sakes, don't you dare scare me like that ever again!" Blaise accused looking hyperventilated as he kept taking deep breaths to calm himself down but he was still shivering like a leaf. "Draco, the second you cast the killing curse on that asshole it rippled a strange ricochet effect all inside the duel's circle. I thought you've killed yourself!" He said without taking his watery pitch-black eyes from the blond.

Once he returned the stare, the pupil in Draco's left pearl-gray eye remained static but the one in his right amethyst-blue eye dilated, darkening completely his eye. The look of horror spreading across Dracos' face shot ice through Blaise's body.

"Please talk to me, say something, will you?" Blaise pleaded getting worried by the minute.

Draco pursed his pale lips tight and motioned to get up but he was soon caught up by a blind hot puncture that threatened to split his skull in two and forced him to remain sited on the floor. "ARGGG!"

Kneeling in front of the blond, Blaise lifted his hands up to the sides of Draco's temples in order to cast a wandless healing charm, but Draco backed up abruptly waving both arms in the air.

"Easy, easy… Draco, it's me. I won't hurt you." Blaise soothed with a calm voice.

The blond Slytherin looked at his brother without blinking as a familiar voice inside his head teased mockingly: _"Are you sure you've crushed your enemies into nonesxistence? I'm not talking about the enemies you hate, but the ones you love."_

Draco's face instantly turned into a porcelain mask devoided of emotion. "I'm going to kill you."

The moment those pitch-black eyes locked with the mismatched gems in front of him and read the truth in Draco's words Blaise's heart missed two consecutive beats. Fighting against the ice-cold shiver crawling down his spine, Blaise finally composed himself and lowered his gaze shamefully.

"Allow me to heal you first." He smiled sadly in a gesture of complete surrender.

The hurt look that crossed his brother's face made Draco's heart squeeze and turn in itself.

"Blaise, I was just kidding. We're equals, remember? Killing you would be like committing suicide." Draco then started laughing hysterically, rubbing his forehead nervously. "I'm okay. I don't need a healing charm. I'm fine… _perfectly_ fine."

The other bit his lower lip and shook his head in denial. "No, you're remotely okay."

"I almost forgot…" After producing the sterling locket from his pant's pocket, Draco shoved it in front of Blaise's face. "Look!"

An entangled sob caught down Blaise's throat. "What…How?!" Unconsciously, he placed a hand against his chest, desperately searching for it. "I haven't taken it off, not once, in twelve years!"

"Now you'll remember why you've given it to me." And with that said Draco clasped the necklace around his brother's neck.

The pitch black darkness of Blaise's eyes flickered with a silverish light for a moment, by the time he looked up at Draco his pupils dilated in full.

"I've kept my word, I'm returning it intact." Arching playfully one eyebrow, Draco shot back. "That's what you wanted, right?"

Without wasting another second Blaise wrapped both arms around the blonde's skinny frame and gave him a bear hug. "You crazy bastard, you did it! You've saved Scorpius!"

Completely immobilized with such dangerously chocking hug, Draco squeaked with the small amount of air he'd got left in his lungs. "Shape up, you brute!"

Blaise savored Draco's closeness for a minute and then pulled back. "Draco, your eyes…" He gasped, fixing his stare at the blonde's amethyst blue right eye.

"When I went back in time I've restored part of Luna's Lifespan Seal in the process but..." Draco paused and contorted his face painfully.

"But that doesn't change the fact that you almost died and were brought back from the other side of the veil." Blaise finished the sentence for him with a worried face before asking. "How are you feeling?"

Ducking his head to the sides, refusing to make eye contact with his brother, Draco hissed. "Different."

"You still remember what we've talked earlier about you and I being together, don't you?" Blaise demanded to know, getting visible impatient.

"Being together?" Draco repeated absentmindly, trying to focus his thoughts. "Brother, I never said such thing..."

"For fuck sakes, this is so not happening!" Blaise's face redden with repressed anger, his eyes looked like they were going to pop out from their sockets. "Draco, you've admitted that you wanted me! Don't you dare to take that back now!"

"What I've said is that I wanted _something_ from you. You've just heard what you wanted to hear. You weren't really listening to what was I actually telling you and in a way I'm glad you didn't. I didn't know what was I thinking, my selfishness was blinding me." Draco felt his mouth dry and started sweating despite himself. "Look, it's not the time…"

"Nor the place to talk this over, guess it never is." The other munched resentfully as he finished the sentence for him.

The blond Slytherin coughed quietly while filling his constricted lungs with much needed air in the process. "I've got to find Luna. Now more than ever I need to be with her and my son."

"You know what? I like you better when you are a selfish bastard. I can't wait to see that side of you again so that we can close our deal." Blaise shot back eyeing Draco lusty.

Draco's face got even whiter, as if completely drained of blood._ "Do you want to die that badly?" _

"_I'm more than meets the eye, brother."_ Chuckling darkly Blaise then grasped the blonde's hand in his with their secret camaraderie handshake. "Let's find that nutcase wife of yours so that we can get the Hell away from here, okay?"

Draco nodded and interlaced his thumb while pressing his finger's tops against Blaise's wrist.

Pulling the Swastika charm from under his shirt, the blond held it in his shaking hand and stared at it fixedly. "I had a vision, more like a warning actually. I do believe Scorpius deliberately let it slipped into me so I could change things and stop tragedy from happening again."

"Tragedy?" Traces of worry and apprehension haunted Blaise's facial features. "What did you see?"

"If there's nothing written about Scorpius on the stars it isn't because he wasn't meant to make it in this world but because he was born before his time..." Draco then leveled his mismatched eyes with Blaise's pitch-black gems. "I won't stop until I procure my son with everything he needs. In order to save him, _truly_ save him, I've got to find a way so that he'd make it to the ninth month. This way Scorpius' magic essence won't get chaotic or unbalanced because he'd be fully human."

But Draco stopped himself from saying another word and arched one annoyed eyebrow looking at what had caught his attention from the corner of the eye. Fully aware of the closing danger, Blaise looked past Draco and grinned darkly.

Carefully, both brothers got up the floor in unison. Draco – with the Elder Wand in hand –scanned with a keen eye the group of surviving Death Eaters who started to surround the Slytherin duo like a mass of starving vultures.

"_I was starting to miss how it felt like to kill someone. Are you ready, brother?"_ Draco's lips curled with a cold and soulless smirk of pure murderous intent.

Blaise pressed his back against Draco's, his pitch-black eyes focused and alert._ "I'm always ready."_

But then something completely unexpected happened. One by one the Death Eaters kneeled in front of the blond, bowing sheepishly their heads. "We're at your service, milord."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

**A/N:**

"I respected my father, but I loved my mother." - A.H


	37. Chapter 37

**CHAPTER XXXVII**

_"For what you did to me and what I'll do to you, you get what everyone else gets…You get a lifetime! Let's go!  
Do you remember that day when we met you told me this gets harder? WELL, IT DID!  
Been holding on forever, promise me that when I'm gone you'll kill my enemies  
The damage you've inflicted, temporary wounds  
I'm coming back from the dead and I'll take you home with me, I'm taking back the life you stole!  
Hip Hip Hooray for me! You talk to me, but would you kill me in my sleep?  
Lay still like the dead from the razor to the rosary, we could lose ourselves and paint these walls in pitchfork red  
I will avenge my ghost with every breath I take!  
I'm coming back from the dead and I'll take you home with me, I'm taking back the life you stole!  
This hole that you put me in wasn't deep enough and I'm climbing out right now  
You're running out of places to hide from me!"_

_(MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE – "It's Not A Fashion Statement, It's A Deathwish")_

Shielding carefully the air of self-satisfaction around him - in a fair attempt not to stand out even more from the rest - Draco narrowed his sore mismatched eyes and watched skeptically the Death Eaters kneeled in front of him with a calculating and distrustful look, adopting a serious and immutable face appropriate for the occasion.

Removing his mask, a young man of brunette hair and piercing dark green eyes – no older than thirty – looked up at Draco and said. "We're at your service, milord."

"The Dark Lord is dead_._ I'm..." The blond Slytherin started but snapped his mouth shut.

Draco was perspiring profusely - literally suffocating inside his black snake leather hooded duster - yet the drops of sweat that started to fall from his forehead were ice-cold.

"_I can be anything… everything."_ His unconscious finished the sentence for him and added. _"__Power requires the ability to play with appearances. To this end you must learn to wear many masks and keep a bag full of deceptive tricks. The world wants to assign you a role in life and once you accept that role you are doomed and your power is limited. You should learn to play many roles: that would make you responsible of your own creation.__"_

Blaise looked with both worry and apprehension when Draco's cheeks went clammingly pale and his chin started to quiver. _"I don't know who I am..."_

Stepping closer, Blaise shoved an arm behind Draco's back, steadying the blonde's shivering skinny frame against his compact body. _"Don't worry. Not always what you know makes you who you truly are. But here's a quick reminder to keep you back on track: You're Draco Malfoy, son of Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black. You're my younger brother, husband of Luna Lovegood and soon-to-be father of Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy."_

After a failed third try, the blond finally managed to say. "I'm Draco Malfoy."

At that particular moment – and thanks to Blaise's assistance - Draco didn't know who he was except for his name. The rest, his feelings, his fears, his dreams, his ambitions, even his deepest desires and afflictions, he could no longer understood those emotions anymore for they seemed completely foreign to him.

After inspecting Draco's sickly alabaster complexion and accented dark shadows under his mismatched eyes, Blaise spoke inside Draco's mind with supreme worry. _"This is no good, you look worse than ever. Let me take you to St. Mungo's."_

Squeezing his eyes shut Draco shook his head with a silent "no" shivering like a leaf.

Crossing his forearm his over chest, slamming his palm against his heart, the Death Eater spoke again. "Draco Malfoy, milord, your wish is our command!"

"My wish?" Draco repeated numbly, his mind was so muddled with fatigue and exhaustion.

Releasing himself from the support of Blaise's hold, Draco took one step forward and rolled the sleeve of his duster and shirt.

As he waved his bony unmarked left forearm in the air, he called out. "Look! The Dark Mark is _gone_! My wish has already been granted: I'm a free man and so are you! We are no longer _owned_ by the Dark Lord, not anymore! No-one except us are the true owners of our lives!" He screamed his lungs out, his shaking voice losing some of its edge.

A collective gasp resonated through the room and Draco could sense the mix of emotions starting to surface in the Death Eaters' faces. The men stared at each other and exchanged confused looks, once the initial shock subsided the young man addressed Draco again speaking in behalf of the rest. "What would happen to us now?"

Draco tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice, but not to avail. "There is a great fear in freedom_, _isn't it_?_ When you are a slave the responsibility for your life is never yours, someone else is responsible. So in a way, slavery is a very comfortable thing. There is no burden. Ironically it turns into a freedom from conscious choice!"

Staggering quite pronouncedly with the edge of a step that marked the difference of level between the room he was in and the adjoining one, the blond Slytherin stabilized his skinny body almost immediately avoiding an imminent fall to the floor.

Blaise exchanged a scolding glare at Draco for a moment with only a short distance separating them. _"Draco, look at the shape you're in. You can barely walk less afford to waste any more of the time you don't have dealing with these fuckers. We've still got to find the whereabouts of that nutcase wife of yours and get you to the hospital as soon as possible. Just tell them what they want to hear and get this over with!"_

"_What they want to hea__r…hmm… fine…whatever…"_ Draco then started walking back and forth in front of the line of Death Eaters, he kept his hands on his back, clenching and unclenching his fits with repressed anger.

"There is potential in all of you, no choice is not possible, so you are forced to choose. Choose for yourselves, it's your responsibility for it's your life! Choose wrongly, freedom becomes a _condemnation_, choose rightly and it becomes a _bliss_. It depends on whether your choice turns. The choice is totally_ your_ responsibility. Follow the path that you believe in, just master the truth within yourselves. From now on let alone the commands of your heart to guide you. Now get up and dissaparate from my sight!" The blond Slytherin roared with a revolting face.

The group of men – about sixty pitiful souls – rose in unison but those dark green eyes in front of Draco spoke of uncertainty and fear.

Kneeling in front of Draco again, the brunette Death Eater lowered his head and pleaded. "Milord, you, more than anyone, knows what we've been put through. We're willing to serve you faithfully in exchange for your protection, for the sake of our remaining family members. Many of us already lost our parents, our wives and children for refusing at first to fulfill the wishes of the Dark Lord. Now that he's finally dead, we're afraid those loving ones who barely survived would get blamed for what we've been forced to do as Death Eaters."

Draco had an uncomfortable look on his face. Before he could formulate his answer one of the doors of the room banged open and members of the Order of The Phoenix and from the Ministry of Magic strolled in.

In one consecutive motion Blaise cast a spell around Draco to protect him and – assuming an offensive position - placed himself in front of his brother, clenching tight his wand, ready to strike. The rest of the Death Eaters formed a defensive line, placing themselves between the Slytherin duo and the new arrivals.

"LOW YOUR WANDS, ALL OF YOU!" Draco yelled suddenly and violently as if overcome by a mood swing.

The blond Slytherin's ear-piercing shout echoed on the stone walls, the candles of the wall sconces flickered and rose, the windows exploded in countless glass fractals and the floor rumbled under their feet. One by one the wands of each wizard present in the room clattered on the stone floor. The blank looks plastered on the wizard's faces were as if haunted by the Imperious Curse, but Draco hadn't used his wand at all: he'd just disarmed them using the will of his mind.

Once Draco opened his eyes again, he looked at everyone present with a bit of confusion before an overpowering wave of wooziness came over him. Dizzy, he stumbled backwards but thanks to Blaise's light-speed reflexes he caught the blonde's feather-weight when Draco's knees gave out and pressed the blonde against his torso, wrapping protectively his strong arms around his brother.

Steadying Draco's body against him – too worried for his brother's health to rejoice himself with the closeness of yet another physical contact with the blond - Blaise leaned Draco's head back against his shoulder and tightened his arms around the blond. _"What the Hell was that?! You've just cast a wandless Imperious Curse?! _

Unable to look into those judging pitch-black gems, Draco tilted his head to the sides, trying to clear up his mind._ "Something similar happened when I wanted to avenge your death and forced __my uncle,__ Rodolphus __Lestrange, __to kill himself. I controlled his body and mind and made him jump. I knew his death would never ease the pain I was experiencing but the rage I felt inside was literally burning beneath my skin. Right before he jumped I could feel his heart failing and his insides tearing apart, he was already dead before he could hit the ground. I did that to my uncle because I wanted him to experience in the flesh what I was going through."_

For a long moment Blaise stood still, wrapping Draco in his arms, amazed by the implications his death had caused on Draco and on his magic.

The moment Draco turned to look at Blaise; his eyes denoted not a single trace of emotion, as if he were completely hollow inside. _"But now I can feel the heartbeats of every single man in this room, even the sound of the blood pumping through their veins. I know that if I concentrate hard enough I could end up killing every single one of them." _

Blaise's terror showed on his face.

"_Except you of course." _Draco soothed in spite of the hardness of his gaze.

Tightening the grip around the blond – guessing the worst - Blaise asked. _"What did Scorpius tricked you into doing?"_

As the blond tried to regain control of his tired legs, he acknowledged._ "I've broken yet another taboo. I've allowed my son to breathe his magic into me. He unleashed part of my psyche that's been dormant all this time."_

Blaise felt his stomach sink, his pitch-black eyes held a look of complete devastation. _"We've got to find a way to undo this!" _

"_No, that's impossible. There's no way to reverse the effects of a psychic kiss. What's done it's done." _The look in Draco's mismatched eyes then changed completely - becoming cold and impenetrable – making Blaise's heart beat strangely. "_I'm not the same anymore." _

"_Scorpius must have taken something away from you when he kissed you."_ An annoyed crease formed between Blaise's eyebrows._ "In order to enhance a portion of your psyche, he took part of your memories as well as imprints of your most deep emotions and feelings, am I right?"_

Draco's sound, deep sigh of accented defeat and resignation confirmed his suspicions and Blaise found himself reflecting on Scorpius' words:

"_I can read his mind, but not at all times. That's why I'm constantly watching my father, studying him, trying to understand the reason behind every little thing he does to come up with a way to make him forget once and for all what he feels for that woman."_

"_I guess there's an upside to everything."_ Blaise concluded to himself, he didn't care if the blond had heard him this time or sense the bitterness in his words.

Arching one annoyed eyebrow, Draco turned to look at his brother and smirked a little artificially. _"You're right, brother. Let's give these fuckers exactly what they want."_

Pulling away from Blaise's support the blond Slytherin began the performance of his life: after all Draco Malfoy was a man practiced in deceit.

There was a look of brutal determination on his face when Draco spoke again. "No more death, no more pain and no more suffering: no more war! It's over, OVER! I do believe the people in this room do not want to plunge this world into darkness again. That's why we must not act rashly and destroy ourselves! Those responsible for the killings of innocents already paid with their lives today! We are alive and we've got to honor and pay due respect to the ones that were left behind and made possible for all of us to survive this day!"

Pushing past the forming line of Death Eaters, Draco made a fast scan of the faces in front of him before resting his accusing gaze on Fudge and Umbridge. _"I was wrong, I don't need them. They're of no use to me anymore. I'd better dispose of the garbage before it starts to stink."_

His left pearl-gray eye started twitching."I know there are still many remaining loyal followers of the Dark Lord and _traitors_ out there who are going to be seething over this. There's no way they are going to stay quiet about it: worse come to worse. Am I right Minister… secretary?!"

Without wasting another second Mad Eye seized those two from behind. "You're coming with me. You've got a lot to explain about the series of bribes and cover-ups that point in your direction."

"_Well…well…that was quick." _Draco said to himself, a wave of excitement tingling inside him.

Waving a hand in the air, Draco stopped the advance of a squadron of Aurors from getting to the group of Death Eaters. "This people are not to be blamed for their weaknesses. They were mere slaves of a higher power. They followed the Dark Lord because they've been extortioned: they had their families kidnapped, tortured, killed…they've suffered enough already! Allow them to be reunited with those loving ones who did survive before you decide to take any action against them. Don't deny them their right to speak up in their defense because if you do, you'd be the guilty ones for abusing of your _privileged_ positions at the Ministry!"

Murmurs and humming filled the room in seconds.

"Why are you defending them?" An auror demanded to know with a creasing frown.

"I was a Death Eater myself." Draco replied bluntly and returned the killing stare without blinking. "My kind had always done the dirty work for others and we'd taken the blame but we did _not_ create the Dark Lord, _you_ did. The blindness, fear and cowardice of those of _your_ kind along with your powerless actions made the Dark Lord who he was. Those of _my_ kind are guilty for swearing upon the lives of those we loved that we would perform as expected, we've given our word and of course we'd died horoning it! We're guilty for being born with inherent qualities that made us able to do what _your _kind couldn't. We're guilty for loving our families, for fighting for our lives, for thinking smarter and acting faster than the rest, for refusing to surrender, for wanting to survive! YES, WE'RE GUILTY OF ALL THAT!! BUT IT'S THANKS TO THOSE OF MY KIND THAT THE DARK LORD IS NOW DEAD!!" He finished, practically spitting on the old wizard's face.

"Thank you, milord." The brunette young Death Eater grabbed and kissed the back of Draco's hand.

Pulling away his hand almost immediately, Draco shot a killing look at the man. "Dare to touch me again and I'd butcher your guts and feed them to the dogs."

As if stricken by a sudden mood swing, the blond then pursed his lips into a tight line._ "If I had dogs…which I don't… the last puppy I've got was when I was seven but after it'd bitten Lucius' hand he chained it and left it to starve to death in the dungeons to punish me for not being able to train properly my pet." _Scratching furiously his forehead with one hand, Draco's lips then curled into a vengeful sneer._ "But I did train that dog…otherwise it wouldn't have bitten Lucius in the first place."_

From behind the Aurors came into view some familiar faces.

Draco smirked to himself with an air of satisfaction. "We'd need the help and support of each and every one of us to restore the balance and order of the Wizardry World and to bring security to its inhabitants, am I right?"

"_And I need to get a __dog, a couple of them, the more the better. I'd always liked dogs and enjoyed a lot training them. No-one would ever tell me what kind of pets can or can't have!" _The blond concluded to himself, firmly in his resolution.

"Yes, and for that matter we need someone who'd make sure that dream come true, someone who'd guide us all towards that goal." Remus Lupin stated as he made his way between the Aurors, carrying a walking stick to support the weight of his healing leg.

"We'd need someone that would secure a future for our children." Nymphadora acknowledged coming from behind her husband, holding her baby protectively tight against her bosom.

"We'd need someone who'd guide us and teach us how to defend ourselves properly, a role model to look up and follow." Justin Finch-Fletchley prompted.

Draco looked up, red sparkles ignited behind those mismatched eyes. _"You bunch of shameful arse-kissers, opportunist hypocrites, weak cowards, I despise you all." _

"Malfoy, there's a reason why you're the one in power of The Elder Wand; the wand that once belonged to Dumbledore. It's not only because you brought down the Dark Lord that made you the righteous owner, you _deserve_ to have it: it's your destiny." Snape sentenced with a purring voice before crossing his arms over his chest, smirking proudly.

"_If you're still unsure about yourself, maybe it's other people's judgments what make you who truly you are. Remember, if you don't want to obey, then you must command." _Draco's unconscious encouraged this time with a mocking tone.

Submerged in a penitent posture, Draco shook his head in denial, trying to shut out the voice inside his head. _"Having that kind of power is…no…I don't want it."_

"_Warfare is a game of deception. Look at them, your actions have already__ ensured the unconditional loyalty of your pawns, they'll stand by you even in death." _The voice of his unconscious held a smirk this time.

Drinking in Draco's strong presence, Mad Eye's magical eye looked directly into those mismatched eyes and made a face. "I was right when I've told you that you were going to go far, boy."

The young Slytherin held an ice-cold stare and didn't reply, a dispirited smirk past over his face. _"Yes, I went too far indeed… paid a steep price for it…and the worst part is… I did this to myself…"_

A familiar scent made Draco spun his head abruptly to the side. That was when he caught sight of Luna. A shiver of Scorpius' memory caught up to him and started switching on-and-off inside his skull as well as in front of his eyes. First the blurring, fragmented scenes seemed static, then slowly started to speed up until everything exploded inside Draco's mind and the last image he saw was the one of the words Luna had written on the bathroom's mirror before committing suicide: "HAD ENOUGH".

Shaking his head furiously, Draco forced a swallow past the tight lump in his throat. _"I don't want her to die but…why? What is it that I feel for her?"_

A physical pain swept right through him, the idea of losing her caused an ache in his chest and made his breathing almost impossible.

Completely drained of energy, Luna remained kneeled besides the limp body of Harry and began sobbing. Hermione, Ron, Seamus, Parvati and Dean were also besides her. They all looked exhausted and dispirited, murmuring fainting sad whispers among them.

Despite being unable to steady his breathing, Draco broke into a run – pushing forcefully those who were in his path to get to his wife - and the moment he spoke his lungs sting like burning coals for the lack of oxygen. "Luna!"

At the sound of Draco's voice Luna opened and closed her mouth shut, unable to bring herself to speak.

Bending down, Draco gently raised her up. "You've just run out of places to hide from me."

An expression of fear, even of terror came into her eyes, she shuddered slightly and her sobs became louder.

"_Why does my blood react this way when I'm near her? Do I hate her? Do I just want to use her or is it something else?"_ An impulsive craving swirled through Draco's body as he stared without blinking Luna's full, sensual half-open mouth.

"Just help me remember whatever it is that I feel for you." He said, his voice dropping to a hoarse whisper.

Encircling Luna's waist with one arm he jerked her tight to him. Their mouths met in an uncertain, forced kiss. Luna's arms hanged limply at her side, her amethyst-blue eyes held a terrified look.

Draco hesitated for a moment as the words she'd said to him in Scorpius' memory come crushing inside his mind with more intensity:

"_If you really loved me, then you'd set me free but you keep treating me as if I were one of your game pieces. I'm not your pawn!"_

Luna seemed scared at first, but as Draco moved his body slowly against her she sighed and closed her eyes, opening more her lips, inviting his tongue to enter her mouth. As he deepened the kiss, Draco explored cautiously Luna's mouth as if it were the first time he'd ever kissed her but in a matter of seconds he practically owned it.

Gazing into her watery amethyst-blue eyes, he said to himself. _"I don't want to restrain you but at the same time I want to lock you away. Hurting you is the one thing I never want to do but my biggest fear is losing you. I know that keeping you with me would make you hate me and it'd end up destroying you but I don't think I'd be able to part from you." _

Luna shivered, her entire body shaking. "Draco..."

She barely coordinated a ragged moan for she couldn't say anything else, seemed that she'd lost all ability to speak…and think.

There was something about the way that Draco held her body, something about the masterful way he was ravishing her mouth that started a fire inside Luna as well. Welcoming the feeling, she knitted her arms behind his neck, pulling him closer.

Draco smirked to himself at her positive response._ "Even though I can no longer remember the times I've held you in my arms and kissed you before today, my body does remember everything about you. No matter how much we hurt each other by staying together, I want those wounds to scar like burns so neither you nor me would ever forget what we've got together, so that you'd never be able to leave my side as I continue to love you madly and devotedly like this." _

And that was when his unconscious encouraged him to go even further. _"Don't suppress yourself! _

Draco then lowered his hands a little far down, rocking tortuously slow their hips together.

Overwhelmed by the sensations Luna started whimpering softly against his mouth. Her humming and the sound of her moaning built the tension to an almost raging climax inside Draco. On the other hand Luna's body was falling apart with the vibration of an orgasm so intense that she seemed to collapse on in.

"Mine." Draco breathed triumphally the word.

Draco felt a fiery and indomitable desire to make love to Luna right there but it was definitely not the place or the time for that. Yet he didn't stop what he was doing for he knew exactly how far he could go before it became _too _far…of so he thought.

"Luna, I love you." Draco heard himself murmuring between taking breaths.

He knew it was a bold, almost suicidal move to confess out loud his feelings, but he wanted her to know that it was not only sexual desire he felt for her, that it was more, so much more.

Gasping for air, Luna's amethyst-blue eyes threatened to be refilled with tears. "I…"

Draco knew that Luna didn't love him back and probably never would but it didn't matter to him, not anymore. Right there - between their feverish bodies - was proof that he'd just affected her every bit as much as she'd affected him. Even if she'd never developed a deep-rooted feeling for him, he was going to make sure her need for him would never fade, we was going to procure it became as insatiable as possible in order to secure her permanence by his side.

"Say you'd stay with me. That's all I need to hear." He bit softly her lower lip as a moan vibrated through her throat.

"Was that a yes?" He asked, blowing a soft puff of warm air against her earlobe.

But Luna was unable to speak as a knot of nerves sent yet another bolt of fire through her body.

Draco was starting to get impatient by her silence. The fingertips of one hand keep tracing up and down the line of her smooth silk neck.

A voice spoke inside Draco's head._ "The longer you'll stay with her, the more pathetic and vulnerable you'd become. Don't let her destroy you. Kill her instead before you became too attached. Kill her… kill… her… now… before it's too late." _

The Slytherin tried to clear up his mind but not to avail; his long fingers then started encircling around Luna's throat in a threatening way, flashes of Scorpius' memory came back to haunt him:

"_I'm a fool for loving you but I can't stop feeling the way I do, you'll be the death of me. You make me weak and vulnerable."_

The voice spoke again._ "In the instinct for self preservation the question of truth or error, right or wrong plays absolutely no part." _

Draco squeezed his eyes shut._ "I can't…I won't kill her." _

"_Is that so? Then why do I sense that much confusion in you?" _The voice of his unconscious denoted a tense and annoyed scolding tone.

"_If I were to harm Luna I'd risk the life of my heir. I can't afford to jeopardize the future of the Malfoy's Clan." _Draco replied copying the harsh tone of his inner voice.

"_What kind of future would that be exactly if you allow that half-demon to exist?" _His inner voice asked mockingly.

"Will you two cut it out and show some respect to Harry?!" Ron's envious and acid comment broke through the heat of desire, pulling Draco immediately and abruptly back to reality.

Luna gulped soundly and immediately took a step back. Her cheeks denoted a vivid red shade of blush; her knees were shaky for the aftershocks of her orgasm.

Draco held out his hand to Luna and she grabbed it, snaking his other arm around her waist he pulled her closer, steadying her body against him until she regained sensibility of her legs.

"Have you no shame?!" The red haired Gryffindor accused.

Holding Luna's hand in his, Draco started playing with her slender fingers before returning the stare at Ron.

"Can't remember..." He then pursed his lips, looking pensive for a moment before shrugging apologetically. "Guess I've lost it somewhere along the way."

Ron's cheeks burned with repressed anger.

"What can I say? I've always experienced trouble when limiting the display of my faculties to others." Draco shot back, playful irony slipping through his words.

He then focused on Hermione's blushed face. "Maybe your boyfriend would finally learn something that'd end up benefiting you, who knows?" A satisfied smirk lifted his kiss-swollen lips.

Hermione made a few unintelligible sounds under her breath, her cheeks redden even more.

Dropping his eyes to the dead body on the floor, Draco shuddered and felt slightly nauseated at the thought that decay and decomposition had already begun their work in Harry's body. The Gryffindor's face was pasty white. His once vivid emerald green eyes were glassy gray. He was crumpled to the ground like a rag doll.

A rush of encountered feelings washed over Draco, Luna noticed how his pale face transfixed with a revolting frown. His hand went numb in hers and eventually let go the hold of her hand.

"He was your friend and you've let him _die_." The blond Slytherin almost spit his disgust the last word, shooting a dark look at the Gryffindors present_._

"_Potter would be alive today if he'd accepted my offer__ back in first year. I wouldn't have let him die if he'd been my friend." _And with that thought in mind his blood literally froze. _"Blaise…"_

Alerted by the sound of frightened gasps that started to fill his ears, Draco looked behind his shoulder.

"This is impossible! You've died! I was in your Memorial!" Some wizards started shouting in unison, pointing their accusing fingers towards Blaise.

Blaise couldn't formulate an answer to any of that. He sighed and dropped his gaze to the floor. Clenching his hands, he stuffed them in his pants pockets to hide his trembling. It didn't help. His hands kept shaking. His nerves were getting the best of him, but he wasn't falling apart…yet.

"Dammit!" The blond cursed under his breath.

Once Blaise gathered courage to lift his watery pitch-black eyes from the floor he met Draco's unblinking mismatched gems. _"Draco, whether you want to admit it or not…we both know that I'm a freak now."_

But Draco's bright, reassuring smirk burned right through the jet black haired Slytherin's chest, comforting Blaise's burdened heart. _"Come on! There has never been anything normal about us: we're Malfoys!"_

Knitting both hands on the back of his neck, the blond ducked his head to the side and pursed his pale lips in a pensive manner._ "Blaise, do you trust me?"_

Wiping a shameful tear, Blaise smiled sadly. _"No matter how many times you ask me that bloody same question, my answer would always be the same: I trust you a hundred per cent."_

"_You shouldn't have said that…"_ The blond shot back with a wicked sneer.

Draco then closed briefly his eyes and took a big breath. "Blaise Zabini didn't die! It was all a farce_ I_ made up!" He shouted loud and clear for everyone to listen.

Blaise froze, almost holding his breath. His heart thudded in his chest. _"What the Hell do you think you're doing?!"_

"_Profiting from my__ genius and ability to improvise as I laugh at their incredulity and incompetence?" _The blond sounded beyond amused.

All eyes were on Draco. He felt himself as if he were in the middle of a scenery and everybody was gathering around him to caught a better view of what was he going to do next. Truth was…he'd never got to work hard to catch the attention of people.

When Draco's eyes met Blaise's gaze again, there was a serious look in them. _"Put it this way, these fuckers don't want to admit how much they need me. They all want to use me because they need a brain. They know that my greatness lies above the average measure of the general stupidity, inadequacy, cowardice, and arrogance. This is a test. If they pass then I'd be able to achieve anything: they'd become my pawns and I'd start moving the pieces as I see fit."_

"_But Draco, by doing that you're risking everything you've achieved so far!" _The other accused, snapping completely.

"_One has to sacrifice it all in order to achieve true glory."_ Clearing his voice, Draco spoke again. "I've faked his death!"

The jet black haired Slytherin bit his lip as soon as the engorged lie slipped out his brother's mouth and the farce started swelling with each word.

Accusations and aggravations started to fill the room, everyone talked at the same time. The buzzing sound was starting to escalate Blaise's nerves, fueling Draco's temper in the meantime.

"I've faked his death because no-one should be treated as bargaining chip! No-one deserves to be enslaved!" The annoyance didn't fade from Draco's temple; on the contrary…it now denoted a throbbing vein. "The moment I've found out that my best friend's future had been _sold _at the early age of five I've decided to come up with a plan to dissolve his marriage contract and set Blaise free: I've embraced him as my brother!"

A dead silence filled the room, no-one dared to speak. Mouths opened and eyes went wide.

"Through his veins runs _my_ family's pure-blood line now, he's a member of the Malfoy's Clan!" Turning round to face the people present, he arched one eyebrow; his pearl-gray left eye started twitching. "Trouble is…this fired up a series of extortions from his fiancée's family because it jeopardized completely their interests."

Pacing the floor with bewitched magnificence, Draco started waving carelessly a hand in the air. "Taking advantage of a most unfortunate event that took place days ago at the Astronomy Tower where Blaise got seriously injured while risking his life saving the lives of the students at Hogwarts, I've decided then to fake his death with the hope this would put an end to my brother's persecution along with the horde of blackmails threatening him to fulfill the terms of a marriage contract that should have been considered void long time ago because he's longer part of the Zabini's Clan."

Draco stared at the people present for a moment, studying carefully, silently their facial expressions and how the built-up story – well, actually part of it _was_ true - slowly sunk inside their narrow minds.

He then relaxed; everything was going just as planned. "After his Memorial, everybody was convinced that Blaise had died. But he's a Malfoy and he simply couldn't keep a low profile for long. As member of the Malfoy's Clan, he's been gifted with a forthright disposition, frank courage, bold aggressiveness, tenacious persistence and granite honorableness. Driven by those inherent qualities, Blaise offered to join forces with me and stand against the Dark Lord. Without him I wouldn't have been able to defeat my oppressor and regain my freedom."

Walking the short distance that separated him from Blaise, Draco made a halt in front of him and rested his right hand over Blaise's right shoulder.

"In front of me stands a free man: Blaise Malfoy. He's not only my brother…" He paused to smirk proudly - squeezing Blaise's shoulder with a reassuring and firm grip - before taking position right beside him and crossed his arms over his lean chest. "…but also my _equal_. Whatever prejudice you dare to incur to him would be a direct offence against my person."

Blaise's ego exploded and a warm feeling raced through him motivated by Draco's words. At that moment he wished he could just scream his heart out and tell the whole world he loved that man. He wanted to squeeze the blonde's skinny body in his strong muscled arms and kiss him hard and deep, claiming him. He wanted to slam Draco's back against the wall, stripped him of those tight leather pants he was wearing and swallow the blond to the root, deep-throating him, sucking him dry. At the mere thought of such pleasant fantasy Blaise's eyes rolled shut and his manhood began to ache.

"How possibly could you pull out such a farce all by yourself?" The voice of an auror denoted skepticism.

Draco found himself momentarily unnerved by that.

"I've helped the Malfoy brothers." Snape's voice prompted. Draco could perfectly tell that there was a malicious complicit smirk beneath those words. "After attending Blaise Malfoy's wounds I've made him drink the Draught of Living Death potion which induced him into a deep sleep, slowing completely his vital signs, decreasing as well his body temperature and heart-rate. The moment his mother came to prepare the body for the Memorial, his pulse was already imperceptible."

No wonder where Draco's cunning and manipulative skills had been perfected with. It'd been no other but his Head of House the one who trained the young Slytherin in the subtle art of deception.

The moment their eyes met briefly Snape could feel Draco's unquestionable admiration and respect plastered all over his student's face and when Draco read those pitch-black eyes he couldn't help but feel the unquestionable support of the only man the blond recognized as father figure.

"Why would you do that? For what purpose would you want to built-up such scandalous façade? What did you expect to gain from all this?" Some scolding voices started shouting coming from where the line of aurors was stationed.

"I did it because I'm selfish." The blond replied bluntly.

Without paying attention at the building tension that secluded the room Draco almost looked refreshed…as much as those permanent dark shadows under his eyes and clammingly pale complexion allowed.

"It was a matter of righting wrongs. Blaise was born in the wrong family. He'd always been a Malfoy in soul and spirit…now it runs in his blood too." Draco finished without even breaking a sweat.

"_Have mercy, will you?! How can I possibly keep my hands to myself after everything you've just thrown at me?!"_ Blaise accused yet kept his thoughts for himself and sighed soundly, trying not to get caught watching Draco lusty.

By then Blaise's fantasy expanded its horizon completely. He imagined himself pushing inside the warmth of Draco's velvety smooth tightness, each time thrusting harder and deeper until he achieved a fast strong rhythm and both their bodies started snapping together, their climaxes rocketing through them. Blaise's eyes fluttered and the most exquisite grimace of pleasure formed on his face.

"_Come on brain, don't do this to me, not now, not here… think about something else."_ Blaise bit his lower lip nervously as those erotic images kept replaying inside him over and over again, feeling like his mind and his world were spinning out of control.

"_My mother and her girlfriends… in their underwear…or even worse….completely naked…" _He started muttering under his breath, desperately trying to think in the most nauseating image possible._ "Fuck! Now I want to throw up!" _Blaise complained bringing a hand over his mouth.

It was in Draco's nature to be haunted, wanted, criticized, despised, feared, idolized, admired, loved…he was able to inspire all those feelings and more…but one thing was certain: Draco Malfoy was a hero. He'd defeated the most terrible and powerful wizard of the Wizardry World: Lord Voldemort. No matter what he did, from now on, in the eyes of every witch and wizard the blond Slytherin was someone to be respected and at the same time someone untouchable.

As the people present continued debating – taking in the whole deceit from beginning to end without question - the blond Slytherin meditated with his unconscious. _"True power does not come from within oneself but from the unconditional, free and unquestionable offering from the rest. Fear does not strength power, it smothers it. You must flirt with control, it must be subtle and not harsh…you've got to seduce the mob with what you've got in order to get what you want from them." _

The blond Slytherin smirked to himself. _"Promise everything without surrendering a thing in the process."_

Crossing his arms over his muscled chest, Blaise teased._"Just like a frigid and uptight bitch would do?" _

"_Bitches__ sell themselves cheap. I'm not a bitch."_ There was a mocking expression around Draco's mouth when he added. _"I'm not affordable." _

"_Let me be the judge of that."_ The other said, grinning darkly.

Draco made a tired snort-like sound, by then his left pearl-gray eye had darkened completely.

Parvati stared at Blaise without blinking. "I've always suspected something was going on between you two, as if an invisible string bound you together."

A sinking feeling in Blaise's stomach suggested that girl might have had a solid foundation to back up her words.

"What makes you say that?" He inquired. Although he was listening to her, his dark eyes were never off Draco for too long.

"I'm an intuitive person." She smiled shyly, following his pitch-black eyes. "I've noticed the way you two moved, always in synchronicity despite your being psychically opposites. This became more accented today, when you two fought side by side against Voldemort and his Dark Army. I've also paid attention in the way you look at each other, as if you could read each other's minds fluently. If I hadn't witnessed what happened earlier with Malfoy and Luna, I'd say you and him were together."

"Actions speak for themselves: Draco kissed her and not me." Blaise pushed away the venom of his envy as he continued to check on his brother while the blond retrieved the ruby gemstone radish shaped earring to Luna.

Parvati studied the couple for a moment before turning to look at Blaise. "You're in love with him."

Blaise refused to answer, yet his body language betrayed him when his shoulders slumped.

The tone in her voice softened, as if confessing a secret. "If it's of any consolation, those two are not meant to be. I don't believe they'd last too much longer together."

The jet black haired Slytherin spun his head violently to face her; there was an undefined expression in his dark eyes.

"Get ready to pick up the pieces when the time comes, he'd need someone strong to lean on." Parvati bit her lip and gave Blaise a worried look. "I hope by then you'd finally understood the meaning of trust."

Blaise looked at her steadily, showing no reaction to her words yet he was deep in thought, considering carefully what she'd said.

It was as if Parvati could read the question in his face, she said. "I can perfectly tell that you're a man used to profit from every situation."

Without saying a word Blaise started walking away from the Gryffindor girl. A wicked smile crossed his face the moment he rested his pitch-black eyes on Luna. _"Your loss, my gain." _

Placing both hands over her hips, Padma stood in front of her sister with a scolding frown. "I thought you've said you weren't going to do_ that_ anymore."

"I don't know what you mean." Parvati shrugged innocently.

"Just because your boyfriend recently broke up with you doesn't confer you the right to speak ill of other couples! Why are you so determined to ruin other people's relationships, to make you feel better with yourself?" Padma accused, twisting with two fingers her sister's earlobe.

"Yes, I mean no! Ouch! That hurts!" Parvati complained.

On the other side of the room Draco was caressing tenderly Luna's earlobe. "This belongs to you."

Luna passed her fingertips around the radish shaped earring and smiled candidly at her husband. "Oh my! I thought I'd lost it!"

"I've found it." Pulling her close, he brushed his lips against her mouth. "And I've found _you_ too. No matter what happens, I'd always find you."

She glared at him, her hands clutching nervously behind her back. "Draco, a lot of things happened since the last time we'd talk. We both need to…"

"Hey Malfoy! If you were so determined to stop the engagement of Zabini with his fiancée why didn't you just _marry_ him instead?" Seemed that Ron had overheard part of the conversation with Blaise and Parvati or just couldn't help himself to ask out loud with acid irony.

Peaking from behind Ron, Seamus inquired with a mischievous grin. "Which one would be the bride?"

Dean grabbed Seamus by the forearm and rushed into his friend's ear. "Think mate, Zabini was the one who'd taken Malfoy's last name."

"Ohhhh!" Seamus' eyes opened wide as the realization stuck his brain.

Turning to look at Blaise, Ron checked the immaculate clothes of the black jet haired Slytherin from head to toe and shot back. "Well Seamus, if you ask me I'd say that white does suit him."

"He'd look even better with nothing at all." Parvati and Padma whispered in unison and then looked at each other sharing an accomplice wink.

Blaise wormed one hand under his shirt and rubbed on purpose his well defined six-pack, exposing precious inches of his sculpted narrow waist in the process. "Is it jealousy or flattery what I smell in your comment, Weasley?" He inquired, smiling without humor.

A fainting sound and a funny giggle came from where Parvati and Padma were standing.

In spite of Blaise's intimidating closeness Ron took courage from the support of Seamus and Dean and confronted the jet black haired Slytherin bravely. "If Malfoy had married you it'd have spared you both from a lot of trouble, you know?"

Draco smirked tiredly at Ron's bad excuse of a joke and threw the punch right back at the Gryffindor. "It would have been easier that way. You're quite right about that, Weasley. After all, who says you can't marry your best mate?"

By then Blaise didn't trust his voice to work and lifted unconsciously one hand to his heart.

"If you admit that you wanted to marry Zabini you're saying that you're one of _those_ guys, Malfoy?" Ron inquired venomously as Dean and Seamus mouthed silently the word _queer_.

Without taking his mismatched eyes off Blaise, Draco shrugged and sighed in a most studied theatrical way. "Oh, I am guilty of charge."

That pronouncement raised a sudden outburst of laughter around him.

"You've said it yourself Weasley, not me." Turning to face the Gryffindors, the blond Slytherin finished the sentence with a lethal ice-cold sneer. "I'm an arrogant elitist bastard: I deserve nothing but the best."

The incredulous paper-white faces of the three Gryffindors were priceless.

Blaise felt his heartbeats drumming so fast inside his chest that he thought he was going to die from the shock after the bomb Draco threw on him. _"Did he say what I've just heard he said?!"_

"If I didn't marry Blaise was because I was already committed to someone else." Draco then cupped Luna's hand in his and shoved in front of Ron's incredulous face their wedding rings.

"WHAT?!" Ron had to retrieve his jaw from the floor before being able to speak another word.

Ron's high-pitch cry muted the shattering sound of Blaise's broken heart.

"May I ask why you two have married?" Hermione demanded to know, her voice denoted both surprise and shock.

"You can ask." The blond Slytherin replied evasively, arching one annoyed eyebrow.

Curling a lock of hair behind Luna's ear Draco then repaired on the - still present, but definitely healing - marks of the iron collar she had to use when she'd been held captive by Pettigrew.

"Who did this to you?" Both asked in unison once Luna's amethyst-blue eyes rested on the faint traces of hickeys all around Draco's neck.

Unlike what Blaise had expected, the blood-thirsty love bites he'd imprinted on Draco's skin didn't last for long, they were hardly visible by then…but still present.

"Who was she this time?!" She gasped and Draco frowned slightly at her.

The blond Slytherin was startled by the intense stare he received from Luna, as if he'd been caught completely off guard. Truth was, in the pitiful condition he'd been submerged when Blaise assaulted him the blond barely realized that his brother had left marks on his skin.

Her eyes filled with tears again. "Answer me!"

Shamefully, Draco looked down and started to shift and straighten both his shirt and duster in a fair attempt to stop her from drilling her eyes deeper into his skull.

In spite of himself, Blaise stepped into the scene and placed his hand over Draco's shoulder, squeezing it. "If you don't tell her, I will."

Draco got caught in a swirl of emotions: terror, shame and fury were the predominant ones.

"Spit it out Blaise, now!" Luna's anger boiled towards a breaking point.

Sighing soundly, the jet black haired Slytherin looked at his brother without blinking. _"I won't let you take the blame this time, I'm the culprit."_

"_We both are, you've said it yourself, remember? I've brought it on myself!"_ And with that, Draco shoved furiously Blaise's hand from his shoulder.

The hot, shameful puncture of guilt cursed all through Blaise's body_.__ "Don't get mad at me. You want me to lie to Luna, is that it? Because I can do that, just say the word. What do you want me to do?"_

Draco munched some words under his breath and grabbed a fistful of his silk blond blocks, he looked beyond pissed. _"Drop the act Blaise, playing the condescend guy never suited you. You've always done whatever the heck you wanted. I was right when I've said you've born in the wrong family: you're a true Malfoy."_

"Seems that you know everything when it comes to Draco, don't you Blaise?" Luna's disgust and scorn dripped like venom in her words.

Shooting a disgustingly harsh stare at Luna, Blaise narrowed their distance until both were face to face.

"Of course I do. I know him for over twelve years now. I've been there for him all along. I understand him in a way you never will." A rush of vengeance and anger swept through Blaise when he spoke his next words. "I hope what happened would finally teach you, _love, _about the consequences of neglecting your duties as his wife. You'd better take care of the man you are supposed to cherish dearly because if you don't I know of someone who is more than willing to take your place and give Draco everything he deserves…and more!"

"ENOUGH YOU TWO!" Draco roared snapping out irately and placed himself in the middle of Blaise and Luna, facing her. "I'm guilty, yes! I'm guilty for not telling you before and for keeping it in secret but I never cheated on you!"

"My 'ero!" A musical female voice called out from behind Draco.

The second the blond Slytherin turned his head over his shoulder, he saw Gabrielle Delacour – Fleur's little sister – waving both arms at him.

"You've saved my sister's life!" She sobbed, crying happy tears. "I wanted to zank you in person!"

Taking a step back, Draco held a hand in the air, stopping the girl from getting closer. "I'd rather pass."

Nodding shyly, she fixed her watery eyes on the floor. "Fleur told me w'at 'appened between you two. My sister 'ad always been a little too enzusiastic, I'm sorry."

"Enthusiastic?!" Luna arched an eyebrow, a scowl flickered across it. "What happened between you and Fleur after you saved her life?!" She asked, fixing her blood-shot eyes at her husband.

Shrugging innocently, the blond Slytherin confessed. "She jumped right at me and kissed me. I've lost balance and we both fell onto the floor…she on top." He found himself adding those three words in his defense.

Blaise opened wide his eyes, unable to process the unexpected turn of events_. _

"She practically _owned _your neck and you let her do it?!" A lightning shot through Luna's body, tracing through every nerve ending to pool at the base of her spine.

After shooting a murderous look at Blaise, Draco replied harshly. "Some people don't like to take _no_ for an answer."

Luna's brain shut down and her fist flew. Blood exploded from Draco's nose and lip.

Draco hunched over, cupping both hands over his injured face. His head ached and his swollen lip throbbed. The blood dripping from both his nose and lip tasted sharp in his mouth.

He then started laughing hysterically and seemed that he was unable to stop. "You love me, you _really_ love me, don't you princess?!"

"You selfish bastard! How could you!?" Luna's heart skipped a beat; a lump filler her throat. "What kind of example do you plan on giving to the baby?!"

But his bursts of laughter were interrupted by intermittent silences until Draco suddenly lost all humor and his laugh turned into razor sharp anger.

"Does anyone else have any other earth-shattering secret that would like to share?" Seamus' amused voice broke in the middle of the domestic violence scene.

Hermione nodded. "I'm pregnant too…with Ron's child!" She confessed out loud, her cheeks went purple red with excitement.

Seamus and Dean spun their heads towards the red haired Gryffindor. "BUSTED!"

Ron's face went clammingly pale; he literally wanted to dig a hole in the floor and sunk his head in it.

Without being able to hold back the tears, Luna and Hermione came together in a tight hug. "Our children are going to be best friends!" Both girls cried in unison.

"Bloody Hell…" Draco grunted; his mismatched eyes rolled back in his head.

The blond Slytherin then lost control of his weakened body. His knees simply couldn't hold his frame and they gave out on him. Unable to sustain his feather-weight sack of skin and bones any longer, he slumped onto the floor.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

SEVEN MONTHS LATER…

Draco was bordering on devastation; his skinny body seemed to be in a lot of pain. He was shaking uncontrollably. His arms were wrapping numbly Luna's unconscious body. Crimson drops kept falling as the blond continued to drag forward his tired, shaky legs, creating a gory trail that contrasted with the immaculate white ceramic floor of St. Mungo's Hospital hall.

"Help…" He tried to call out with a vulnerable, barely audible voice, forcing everyone to listen, but his throat constricted, making his speech difficult.

A nurse - who'd just stepped outside a storage room with a cart full of medicinal potions and antiseptic unguents - halted in her tracks at the sight of Draco and Luna. Leaving the cart behind, she rushed towards their direction.

"Sir, what happened?" She demanded to know, her almond eyes traveled the Slytherin's clammingly sick pale complexion. His face was bruised and his right eye was all swollen, practically a massive blood clot.

"My wife…she's nine months pregnant… the contractions …" But Draco couldn't say anything more, it was as if his lungs couldn't fill properly with air and he started chocking.

After resting Luna over an empty stretcher, Draco slumped against a column for support. "Help...her…and my son…"

The nurse nodded and called for assistance. Immediately after that three mediziwards apparated scarce inches from where Luna was resting.

Removing the blood stained oversized wool pullover Luna was wearing, the mediwizards found out that underneath - she was wearing a pearl-white silk nightdress – her clothes also denoted several blood stains but her body presented no open wounds or bruises either. The blood wasn't hers but from her husband. Underneath his black trenchcoat Draco's white shirt and black pants were soaked in a crimson veil.

Turning to face Draco, one of them said. "Sir, you're in shock. You've lost a lot of blood. I need you to rest over this other stretcher. We've got to suture your wounds or you'd bleed to death."

Draco refused, shaking his head, barely clinging onto consciousness.

As his two colleagues pulled the stretcher, carrying Luna to one of the surgery rooms, the mediwizard asked to the Slytherin. "You look like you've been attacked by a beast. Do you have a recollection of what happened or who did this to you?"

Draco started mumbling indecipherable phrases, by then he was feeling way too light-headed.

"That bitch did this to my brother!" An angry shout came from the other side of the hall, it was Blaise.

The blonde's pearl-gray left eye opened wide at the sight of the jet black haired Slytherin. He wanted to run but the terror he felt was a paralyzing one: his whole body froze in shock. His wand slipped from his loose grip onto the floor, he was perspiring profusely, his mouth felt dry.

"DON'T LET HIM COME NEAR ME!" Draco's faltering voice came in a ragged, desperate shout.

With an effortless flick of his wand, Blaise got rid of a small group of St Mungo's security guards casting a stunning spell that incapacitated those wizards onto the floor.

Grabbing Draco by the collar of his black trenchcoat he slammed roughly - yet not _too_ hard - the blond against a door that opened immediately for it was unlocked. Stepping inside the deserted room, Blaise kicked the door shut behind him and pressed Draco against a wall.

"This shit's gone_ way_ too far!" Blaise accused, a deep frown sunk in his sweaty forehead.

Draco's pale cheeks were wet with tears of rage and shame. "Get your hands off me!"

The blond struggled fiercely the first couple of minutes until his tired arms ended up falling numbly at the sides of his body.

Carefully, Blaise combed back the fringe from Draco's bruised face, running smoothly his long fingers through the silk blond damp blocks before resting his hand on the back of Draco's neck caressing it softly.

"For fuck sakes! What has she done to your eye?!" He demanded to know, fixing his gaze on Draco's swollen and bloody face.

The blond Slytherin refused to reply and started growling, kicking and screaming. With a strength fed on adrenaline, Draco jerked away from Blaise but bumped his head against the wall and he felt his head split in two with a blind pain that seized his whole skull.

"Shhhh. Hold still." Blaise ordered. His voice was tense but it bubbled with uneasiness.

As his fingers flipped the buttons on Draco's shirt, worming their way under the fabric the blond tried not to look too close at Blaise because those pitch-black eyes already stripped him mentally with such intense stare.

His brother's touch made Draco's skin crawl with a sickening feeling.

"I don't want _anyone _to touch me _ever _again!" Draco yelped hysterically.

A shiver vibrated through Blaise's fingertips as he traced Draco's burns and bleeding wounds. He also noticed that the stones from the Swastika charm that hanged from his neck were all shattered.

"Let me go...don't come any closer..." Draco looked like he was about to pass out as he continued struggling with his diminishing force to set himself free from the trap of Blaise's arms.

Blaise then lifted Draco's chin with his other hand forcing his brother to meet his gaze. "Mark my words: that bitch is _dead_."

"If you happen to touch a single hair of hers, you're history!" Draco spitted blood as he spoke.

Steadying Draco's head with both hands, Blaise's warm breath hit the blonde's face when he hissed angrily. "I'm not afraid of you, brother. Get ready to dig two graves then because by the time you finally got to me, I'd have smoked her to ashes. I won't let you continue with this self-destructive path you've chosen in order to protect that nutcase! I've sent an owl to Snape. He'd be here any minute now to make you see reason as well!"

Draco squeezed his eyes shut for a brief moment and took a sound breath to fill his exhausted lungs with much needed oxygen. "All I ever wanted was for Scorpius to make it to the ninth month and have no recollection of his true origins and what he'd done when he was in Luna's womb. I wanted him to count with a fresh start… from scratch! But as my son's share of humanity increased, Luna's magic essence became more and more unstable…unleashing the enhanced abilities in her blood…the ones I've transferred to her through the Inferae's pact."

Blaise stood there, unable at first to digest Draco's words right ahead but then, as everything slowly sunk inside, he grew even more restless. "I've got this huge blank in my head from the nasty blow that bitch gave me in the head. I've been looking out for you everywhere, but I guessed in the condition you were in you'd end up here."

A strong emotion sunk inside Blaise's heart - a cross between sadness and anger traced his face - as his pitch-black eyes kept traveling Draco's stigmatized flesh.

Reluctant, the blond somewhat nodded. "Actually, I came here because her contractions have started."

But Blaise's gentle, worried touch was turning possessive, needy. _"Why does my body feels like this when I touch Draco? It's like there's this energy flow coursing through me directly into him. The more I touch him, the more intense the stream seems to go to him as if he were a vessel for my magic essence. My temperature must have gone incredible high for I feel my blood literally burning and my heart is beating so fast that it's scary but I don't want to stop."_

Emotion gripped Blaise's chest, he found himself out of breath. The feel of Draco's body under his fingertips was almost too much to bear. Need and desire then robbed him of the ability to continue thinking further.

"Quit touching me! Dammit!" The blond chocked with a distorted, pissed-off breathing.

By the time Blaise awoken from his trance and ducked his head to see what one of his hands was doing, he'd already got one finger hooked in the blonde's waistband and the others pressed against Draco's warm skin, snaking their way downwards.

Draco snapped out irately, he never looked so out of himself, it was scary. What started as chocked cough-like sounds to bring air to his tired lungs developed into a distorted and hysterical breathing.

"YOU FUCKER! GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME OR I SWEAR THIS TIME I'D KILL YOU!" The blond strangled a desperate scream.

But the moment Blaise's other hand let go of the pressure point on Draco's neck, the blond smirked a drugged grimace at him. Grabbing hard, Blaise pulled Draco against his body and rested the blonde's chin on the crook of his neck.

"The room is spinning…way too fast…make it stop…now." Draco ordered in his dizzy state.

"Draco, I don't know what's going on but my magic seems to be going directly towards you. Take it. Take whatever is that you want from me." Heat fired through Blaise's lower stomach.

"Why is so cold in here?" The blond swallowed painfully, he'd lost a great amount of blood.

"I'll take care of you. Just let me hold you, I want to feel you close to me, very close." Embracing Draco tighter, Blaise pressed his body against the blond in all the _right_ places.

The immediate increase in contact made the vulnerable position worthwhile: with such closeness between them, the inner flow inside Blaise wrapped Draco with the warmth of its magic essence, slowly healing and soothing the blonde's battered body.

When Draco tried to speak again, he felt a rising pressure of bile crawling up his throat. "Blaise, wait. It's too much. You're making me feel nauseous."

"I can't find a way to stop it: you're drawing my magic like a magnet." His arms were gripping the blond with unyielding strength, refusing to let go.

Draco felt his eyelids getting heavier as the burning sickness of his stomach kicked inside with more force. "Back off or…I'll throw up…all over you."

"Do it." Blaise encouraged panting heavily. "Just give me an excuse to take our clothes off."

Draco yelped and tried to set himself free but couldn't move an inch, trapped in the imprisonment of those strong arms seizing him like chains.

"Shit, I'm getting way too sensitive. I want you. I want you now. Relax. I won't hurt you, I swear." Blaise whispered his perverse need for acceptance while nibbling Draco's earlobe.

Draco's voice as well as his conscience was coming-and-going. "No. Blaise, don't do this. I'm getting really sick. Get off me."

"Draco, you feel so damn good. I can't wait any longer. Here and now I've got to make you mine." Pressing his hips against Draco's crotch Blaise stripped the blond off his trenchcoat and let it fall on the floor.

"Stop! Don't touch me!" The blond trembled with raw fear and shame.

Blaise tried to stop himself but he couldn't. Like an addict, he was helpless to his need for Draco and the fixed idea of having the blonde's naked body pressed against his was turning him even harder. His vocal chords were locked by the intense sensations going on deep inside him as he lowered the zipper of Draco's pants.

In a moment of sheer hysteria Draco cried out with the scarce amount of energy left in him. "DON'T FAIL THE TEST THIS TIME! I TRUST IN YOU!"

Unable to contain his fervor a second longer Blaise kissed Draco with bruising force, whole-mouthed, sucking the blonde's tongue between his lips, licking and teasing it like he planned to do later with Draco's manhood.

After throwing into the air his suits' jacket and shirt the jet black haired Slytherin kicked his own pants out of the way, strangled sobs got caught in Draco's throat when Blaise stripped them both of their briefs.

"Brother, look at me…look into my eyes…" Draco gasped, desperately struggling for air as he tried to break the kiss in his disoriented state.

Blaise did as requested and locked his pitch-black eyes on the blond but that didn't stop him from continuing to stroke firmly along Draco's length.

A ragged, broken hiss came out from Draco's torn throat. "Can't you see…that I've got…nothing left…to give?!"

"I disagree." Blaise said bluntly as a burning lust ignited.

Draco held still - frozen with paralyzing terror - as Blaise's fingers continued to touch him, his muscles tensed completely holding his breath, fighting to ignore the shameful pleasure rising inside him. But in spite his efforts to shut his body out; Blaise's masterful, knowing touch was slowly awakening Draco's body.

"_Don't take my name away from me__! I can't lose that too!"_ A stream of tears started to fall down the blonde's cheeks feeling Blaise's hot naked hardness bouncing against his bare skin.

Out of the corner of his eye - as he continued to explore and taste every inch of the blonde's reluctant mouth - Blaise noticed Draco's body starting to shiver with unconscious spasms, he wasn't going to stop stroking him until the blond started licking.

"Yes, that's it. Feel it, it's in here. The craving, the need, the hunger… they're all inside you eager to come out. Surrender to your passions and I'd give you everything you want without restrictions." Blaise whispered after breaking the breath-taking kiss with a wickedly lustful grin on his swollen lips.

Draco shook his head with a negative harsh motion but his resistance diminished against Blaise's firm determination. His weakened body fell backwards and Blaise's body went with him, both Slytherins landed over a bed.

Excitement colored Blaise's voice this time while sucking a finger coated with Draco's early juices. "Now get ready to experience the most inhibited sexual experience of your life!"

Unable to keep his eyes open a second longer Draco closed them shut and he passed out, wishing he'd never wake up.

"Come on, we haven't even started. The handjob was meant to warm you up not beat you down. There are still a lot of things I'd like to do to you. The night is young and so are we…let's milk it for what it's worth." Blaise hissed into the blonde's ear with a teasing chuckle.

But when he noticed that Draco was not only losing his hardness but his body temperature was diminishing drastically and his wounds refused to heal and his cuts started to bleed again Blaise panicked. "Draco?! Can you hear me?!"

While pressing two fingers on the side of the blonde's neck, feeling Draco's low but present pulse, Blaise immediately caught his breath but the feeling of the blonde's skin against his fingertips made Blaise's heart missed two beats.

After caressing up and down the soft curve of Draco's neck, refusing to believe what his heightened sense of touch was silently telling him, Blaise lifted his hand in the air. _"No. This can't be happening, not to Draco." _

Curling his hand into a tight fist, he tilted his head up. _"You fucking bitch, how could you do this to him?!"_ Without being able to contain his turmoiled feelings a second longer Blaise screamed with raw anger and murder intent. "YOU'VE TAKEN AWAY HIS MAGIC?!"

His pitch-black eyes stared at his shaking fist without blinking. _"So that's why Draco was attracting my magic's inner flow like that, he needed it in order to heal but now that he passed out the flow stopped going to him..."_

Blaise then turned to look at Draco's ghostly pale face and swallowed hard, guilt already pounding violently at his conscience. _"Forgive me brother for what I'm about to do."_

llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

**A/N:**

**GET READY FOR THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL TWIST OF THIS STORY!!!**

**There are still 4 Chapters + (most probably) an Epilogue. There's still a lot… A LOT to come!! ANYTHING and most certainly EVERYTHING will happen!!!**

_**A big THANK YOU to those who reviewed the previous chapter and send their comments!!**_

**Haven't made up my mind yet, but the final chapter would have quite a mix of a lot of things with the intention to try to please everybody but also keep things real and be true to the plot.**

**Reviews, comments, PMs, critics, flames & else are always welcomed because any feedback is better than no feedback at all.**


	38. Chapter 38

**A/N:**

**!!!!WARNING!!!!**

**!!MORAL & SEXUAL (SO CALLED) TABOOS AND DEVIATIONS AHEAD!!**

**DON'T LIKE, DON'T READ...OR READ AND MAYBE YOU'D END UP LIKING IT :smirks:**

**This extreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeemely looooooooooooooooooooooong Chapter... ****actually 2 Chapters in 1**** (and the only thing I managed to pair together so far) is dedicated to my best friend, muse and confident, Roxana…RIP**

**I miss you so much**** babe and I'd always love you…not in the way you wanted me to…but in the only way I knew how. You've always put up with me in both good and bad times and no matter how much it hurt me and how hard I tried…I simply couldn't find a way to give you everything you deserved... I'm sorry…for being the way I am...**

**It's because of her that I've decided to write this sequel in first place. This is a fictionalized version of my life. Some people write in diaries, I chose to write this.**

**Despite I've got no regrets I'm**** not proud of most of the things I've done in the past. It's funny how many people ended up praising and idolizing me for my actions…I never understood that…maybe it's because they just see what they want to see and not what lies beneath a charming smirk…**

**I also dedicate this duet of chapters to all those lost, heartbroken and sexually confused souls… with respect.**

***(So) Divinne***

**CHAPTER ****XXXVIII & CHAPTER XXXIX**

_"It's never enough to say I'm sorry, it's never enough to say I care  
But I'm caught between what you wanted from me and knowing that if I give that to you  
I might just disappear, nobody wins when everyone's losing  
It's like one step forward and two steps back, no matter what I do you're always mad  
And I, I can't change your mind, I know it's like trying to turn away one way street  
I can't give you what you want and it's killing me  
And I, I'm starting to see… maybe we're not meant to be  
It's never enough to say I love you, no, it's never enough to say I try  
It's hard to believe that's there's no way out for you and me  
And it seems to be the story of our lives  
There's still time to turn this around, you could building this up instead of tearing it down  
But I keep thinking maybe it's too late."_

_(THEORY OF A DEADMAN – "Not Meant To Be")_

Draco awoke with the bitter taste of bile clenching from his stomach, a gagging retch came crawling through his throat. He looked around the room he was in with a confused look: he didn't recognize a single thing in it.

He stared up at the ceiling for a long moment – while gathering enough strength to get up - but when he tried to lift his hands he denoted they were restrained by cloth-padded manacles around his wrists, similar cloth-padded manacles surrounded securely - yet not hurtful - tight his ankles. He could barely lift his limbs three or four inches from the soft, cushioned surface he was laying over…it was a mattress, he was laying over a bed…a hospital bed.

Ducking his head he looked down and repaired on the fact that he was dressed only with a plain light-blue cotton pajamas pants. The bandages that wrapped his stomach, waist, torso, forearms and upper arms - there was also a band around his forehead that covered his patched right eye – emanated a disgustingly powerful antiseptic scent that accented the sick feeling on the pit of his stomach.

While shrugging his nose at the hurtful smell that was filling his nostrils, Draco tested the strength of those manacles, but he started to feel groggy. Seemed that whatever spell, charm or potion they'd supplied his body with was pulling him back into sleep. Forcing his left pearl-gray eye to open wide, he shook his head twice.

Draco noticed that his wand, the Elder Wand, rested over a clean and folded change of clothing – white underwear and socks, black pants and matching color long sleeves t-shirt and a dark-green shirt along with his wand - scarce inches from him on a small armchair next to the bed.

He extended his right hand towards the wand and tried to accio it, but nothing happened. He tried several more times with the same result...the wand didn't move an inch from on top of the pile of fresh clothes. Without giving up just yet, Draco then tried to cast some minor wandless spells - the type a toddler would pull through without problem - but he'd got the same frustrating effect: not a single charm worked.

"_It wasn't a nightmare…she did it…my magic essence is gone.__ Luna had turned me into a Squib." _Squeezing his eye shut, a tear run down his cheek. _"Oh Merlin, how could you let me survive like this?!" _

The room was getting darker and colder. He tried to keep his eye open but he couldn't, he closed it shut and the whole room plunged into darkness again.

Draco's eyelids fluttered open by force of will when he felt a presence looming close to him, terror seized him with no mercy.

"Whossserrr?" He asked fearfully while dragging the words in his stunned haze.

"There's no reason to be scared. You're safe here." Someone soothed standing right in front of the bed.

Draco's left pearl-gray eye looked really hard at that person for a long time until the blurry and distorted image that projected his groggy partial sight slowly came into focus and he could finally recognize who was in front of him.

"Bbblaisss…" Came a weak hiss from the blonde's mouth.

Blaise couldn't help himself and smiled stupidly when he heard Draco calling out his name. "Yes, it's me."

Blaise had always been slightly taller than Draco. His six point two feet never passed unnoticed but with the course of the months his physical structure started to suffer changes due to the stressed and chaotic rhythm around him. Now that he was weighting less than a hundred and twenty five pounds – about fifteen pounds more than the skinny six feet tall blond but practically a shadow of the sculpted and muscled god-like stud he once was - Blaise's image was standing out even more…but for the wrong reasons, arousing worries and concern from everyone around him.

The jet black haired Slytherin was dressed in an impeccable two pieces dark-blue suit. He had the first two buttons of his white shirt unbuttoned and the knot of his black tie was loosened. Contrary to the perfection of his expensive looking clothes, his smooth ebony skin looked dry and his handsome yet bony facial features denoted accented tiredness. His pitch-black eyes were puffy and swollen, probably from crying or for rubbing them too hard.

Draco breathed heavily and forced the words out in lungfuls of air. "You… look… like… crap."

"Hey, that's my line." The other chuckled sadly.

The blond smirked drowsily and made an unheard snort-like sound. By then Blaise could barely hold back the tears and started sobbing silently.

"Water." Draco murmured closing his eye, his right eye remained patched. "Cool it."

Blaise nodded and headed immediately to the small table by the side of the bed. He lifted the water jar, filled the glass and with a flick of his wand he turned the water into small ice chips. He then took sit on the edge of the bed and with a spoon he dropped carefully some chips between Draco's half-opened lips.

"Howdya finmmme?" Draco inquired while crunching the ice chips inside his mouth.

Blaise's gaze was locked on Draco's face with a _you've-got-to-be-kidding-me_ look.

"I've arrived at the hospital shortly after you. Don't you remember?" Blaise inquired with a soft, broken voice.

"No." The blond rolled his left eye tiredly and closed it shut.

"How could you've forgotten…" Blaise throat closed shut. He almost dropped the ice chips over his lap. He rested the glass on the edge of the table because his pulse became erratic all of a sudden.

Blaise felt his whole world went still and silent as he started to drown in a bottomless pit of affliction and impotence. Summoning as much self-control as he could gather Blaise bit his tongue and made himself keep quiet…for a scarce heartbeat. Then a rage like he'd never felt in his life shot through him like a firestorm. He shot up from the bed, turned his back on Draco and nailed both fists onto the wall, leaving two large craters.

"_Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! I'm so bloody stupid! I knew it! I fucking knew it!" _He lamented himself with an anger that warred with his distress.

When Draco spoke again he did it in between taking deep breaths. "Can't feel…my body…either." His voice was still raspy, but lost its dry edge.

Blaise drew in an exaggerated breath - clearly controlling it - and then allowed it to flow out slowly.

"Good, that's good." Blaise said absentmindly and sucked up a sound sob, turning round, composing himself with inhuman strength.

He then cracked his sore knuckles - shaking the dust off his hands - there were no signs of the cuts on his hands for they healed almost instantly. "It's been done as much as possible to ease the pain."

Draco exhaled heavily through his nose._ "So that's why I've lost hours and my body feels numbed."_ He concluded bitterly to himself, he seemed a little more focus and alert with the passing of the minutes. "Untie me." He ordered.

Looking down, Blaise crossed his arms over his lean chest and took sit on the corner of the bed. "I'm afraid I can't do that. The reason you've been restrained was because the cuts were bone-deep. No matter how incredible fast healer you are: move an inch and you'd risk they open again."

"That doesn't justify the fact that I've been _drugged_ to the bone and _tied _to a bed." Draco was soon boiling with both rage and frustration. "HELP! I'VE BEEN HELD IN HERE AGAINST MY WILL!" He cried emptying his tired lungs.

The blond was almost out of breath, Blaise watched at him in confusion. "Right now you're in the securest and most private wing of St Mungo's hospital…"

But Draco cut Blaise's explanation with an exasperated voice. "WHAT?! I'm in the_ mental_ wing?!"

Continuing speaking with a monotone voice, Blaise explained. "This room has not only been protected with a series of spells but also with silent charms to grant you relax and privacy. Unless your petition demands medicine, food, drink or a change of bandages, no-one outside these walls would hear you. You can deactivate the silent spells if you want."

Draco's heart missed two consecutive beats, his left eye started to cloud with tears. _"But I can't use my magic anymore. How am I going to get out from here now?"_

Blaise watched how his brother's face slowly contorted into a terrified distorted mask. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I don't want to be in here another minute. Untie me, untie me, untie me, UNTIE ME!!" By then Draco's heart started racing faster until it broke into a panic attack. "GET ME OFF THESE CHAINS!!"

The blond Slytherin started pulling from the manacles, rubbing his flesh hard against the padded cloth and with such rough friction his fragile skin started bruising.

"I'M NOT A SLAVE!" Draco's ragged, hysterical scream was chocked with suffocating sobs that left him almost breathless.

The immaculate white bandages that surrounded the blonde's body started to get soaked with crimson stains.

"Draco, please, calm down!" Getting up from the bed, Blaise lifted his wand towards his brother. "Shit! You're bleeding!"

Once the ice-cold refreshing sensation and the mint flavored scent of the combined healing and calming spells and charms that Blaise cast on Draco made effect, the blond stopped rocking back and forth on the mattress.

"I've won my freedhhommm …" Draco's voice was drowsy with the huskiness of sedation, his eyelids fluttered shut for a brief moment.

Feeling a weight sinking next to him on the bed, Draco opened his eyelids again and looked up with a droopy eye at Blaise.

"I'm floaty…no more…" The blond pleaded, drooling all over himself.

Blaise produced a handkerchief from his pocket and carefully started wiping clean Draco's mouth. "Will you behave then?! Can't you see that you can end up hurting yourself?!" He sounded more worried than angry.

His pitch-black eyes studied carefully the visible bruises – from the scarce inches of exposed flesh that were not wrapped by bandages - of Dracos' body healing incredible slowly . "I can't stand to see you prostrated in this bed either but your body is still very fragile. It needs time to recover its strength in order to heal properly, okay?"

"Where is Luna? I want to see her, take me to her." The blond ordered, shaking his head to the sides so that Blaise stopped mopping his face dry with the handkerchief.

Blaise felt his face burning and started seeing red; one of his hands clenched and unclenched the border of the mattress. "For fuck sakes! You _still _want to see that nutcase after what she'd done to you?!"

"I need to be with her and with my son. You _have_ to let me see them." Draco said, this time trying another angle.

The jet black haired Slytherin refused categorically, shaking his head furiously. "No, I won't and she's not going anywhere until the baby is born. I've ordered her room to be closely guarded so that no-one can get out or get in without my permission. She's sound asleep; in the same stable condition she was when you brought her to the hospital. Her vitals and the baby's are sound and steady. So far the contractions are imperceptible and they come as fast as they go. The medi-wizards estimate she'd take a couple of hours to be fully dilated. If she doesn't wake up by then…they'll induce the birth." Leaning over he fixed Draco's pillow and suggested with a soft tone in his voice. "Why don't you use that time to rest?"

The blond hummed angrily greeting teeth and breathed heavily. Blaise was taken aback. He withdrew his hand immediately from Draco's cheek and stared at the blond in silence before asking annoyingly. "That bitch wanted to kill you and you are mad at _me_?!"

A quick flash of something resembling regret lighted up Draco's pearl-gray left eye. Then he dropped his gaze and turned his head to a side, refusing to look at Blaise. "I'm not."

Blaise's forehead furrowed and his eyes narrowed. "I know you're way too stoned to gather your thoughts properly but don't you dare lie to me so plainly!"

"I'm_ trying_ not to be mad at you, but my patience is _very_ limited and you've always tend to surpass my point of tolerance in record-time!" Draco replied angrily, his time he didn't blink and fixed his sore eye on the ceiling.

Blaise's lips tightened, his hands curled into fists over his knees. "Whatever is that you're hiding from me you'd better spit it out. Now."

Draco's chest made a faint grunted sound. "That sounds incredibly hard to believe coming from you. You know every little thing before _I_ do. So if you're asking me that it's because you just want to confirm something."

"No-one knows me better like you do brother, but I happen know you just as well." Blaise chuckled darkly and leaned closer, they were almost nose-to-nose. "Speak up, what is it that you're afraid I'll find out?"

A searing pain in Draco's stomach brought the destructive memories back. His throat burned with the ghost of sickness and swallowed painfully. "Stop pressuring me."

"That's not my intention. I just want to hear it from you. Draco, I need to know that you still confide in me." Blaise's voice denoted his building tension.

Leveling his pearl-gray left eye with Blaise's pitch-black gems, Draco shot back with a pissed-off frown. "Whenever you start acting like this is because you want to hear me saying that I'd never stop believing and trusting in you because you're my equal."

Blaise's smile held genuine warmth; he squeezed Draco's hand in his and then grabbed it gently but with a firm grip. "Now tell me what's really going on, I'm all ears."

The blond felt a growl crawling up his throat that made his next words come incredible low and threatening. "What happened between me and Luna it's _none_ of your business because is a _private _matter. A _pending _private matter, that's why I _have _to see her."

Blaise cupped Draco's chin in one hand - locking his pitch-black eyes on the blonde's left pearl-gray eye - and asked seriously. "Draco, what is it that you feel for her?"

After swallowing the sudden lump that had formed in his throat he replied evasively. "She's the mother of my heir."

"Answer the question." Blaise urged, both Slytherins were eye-to-eye.

Feeling a nasty headache coming down at him, Draco pursed his lips into a thin line and refused to answer.

"Are you still in love with Luna?" The jet black haired Slytherin finally managed to ask, his voice was slowly coming undone.

"No, I'm not." The blond replied with an immutable face but once he heard himself, he couldn't believe what he'd just said.

Despite Draco felt no regret or doubt when he spoke those words out it sounded as if someone else had replied for him.

Blaise inspected Draco's pupil and how it remained constant, it didn't swell at all and that was because what the blond said was the truth and that made Blaise's heartbeat tripped, stumbled, and picked up its rhythm in double time.

"How can I suddenly not care about her in the least?" Draco asked with a voice that sounded completely desensitized taking into account what he was questioning.

"You deserve so much more, more than what you've settled for." Blaise prompted, a dark smile curling his lips.

"Blaise, what is happening to me?" He inquired with the scarce amount of air left on his tired lungs.

Without taking his eyes off his brother's face, Blaise replied with boiling anger. "It almost took you your own life to finally realize that you and Luna are not meant to be! Why did you have to reach this ultimate limit to finally open your eyes? LAST NIGHT I'VE NEARLY LOST YOU!" He finished with a raw scream, unable to hold back the tears a second longer.

"I've always learnt the hard way." Draco looked angry with himself. _"How could I love her still after what she'd done to me? She'd stolen my magic essence and the only reason she couldn't finish me off was because she started having contractions." _

After a soft knock on the door a tall witch – mid-forties, with beautiful oriental features and candid smile – stepped inside the room. Her long pitch-black hair was held up in a bun by two crossed metal hairpins and that image made Draco start to think fast.

"_Nice hairpins__ you've got there, long and pointed…and sharp." _He smirked to himself, plotting.

Without lifting himself from his spot on the bed, Blaise wiped away the tears and welcomed the witch with a tight nod before turning to face Draco. "This is doctor Tsukino. She'd run a series of physical and psychic tests on you."

The blonde's face twisted grotesquely, his emotions threatened to close his throat.

"Tests?" Draco repeated, staring fixedly at the wax sealed envelopes the woman had just handled over to Blaise.

By the time he spoke again Blaise's voice held a harsh, vengeful tone. "Yes, they're needed as evidence to back-up the case I've filed against that nutcase so that she can be charged and punished accordingly."

Draco's chest rose and fell with rapid breaths._ "No! If those results come to light everyone would know that Luna took away all my magic power!"_

Blaise got up from the bed, giving space for the witch to check on the bandages that were wrapped around the blonde's torso, and walked towards the window. Welcoming the fact that his brother was giving the back at him Draco deliberately made a fast move – lifting his knee – and knocked the cap of unguent's flask she was opening. By the time the doctor picked it up from the floor – after providing a close up of those hairpins of hers when she ducked down – the talented long fingers of the blond Slytherin performed as expected and Draco hid the pin he'd managed to retrieve behind his back, resting over it.

Getting impatient but also incredible nervous with the feeling of going to be so closely inspected by that woman, Draco yelped. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" Startled, the poor woman took a couple of steps back.

The blond then cleared his voice with a raspy cough. "Brother, you and I need to _talk_. Now."

Blaise turned round to face Draco, his brows knitted with accented confusion.

"_I can't tell __Blaise that I can no longer read inside his mind."_ Squeezing his eye shut – preventing Blaise from reading through his deceit this time - Draco complained. "My head hurts."

Blaise nodded immediately and got sit again on the bed, right next to the blond.

"How insensitive of me, you must be mentally exhausted." Blaise replied in what sounded more like an apology for that previous unconscious reaction of him.

Blaise's words made Draco wonder if his brother was letting himself guide without questioning to wherever the blond was leading him.

Blaise then pulled out his wand and called out. "Muffliato!"

"Like I've said before, this is a _private _matter and it'd stay that way." The blond Slytherin said without taking his eye off the envelopes Blaise kept holding on his hand. "Burn those and make that doctor forget the results." He ordered, his voice held a nervous faulting tone.

"I won't allow that bitch hurt you ever again. It's time for you to stop covering for her." The other said, already placing a thumb over a wax seal of one of the envelopes, eager to read the results.

Draco started to tremble in spite himself. "It's all over now, leave it."

"How can you possibly ask me that? Haven't you noticed the condition you're in? That nutcase is going down!" Blaise refused and broke one of those seals.

Getting hyperventilated, Draco snapped out completely. "WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE IT ALL BEHIND FOR GOOD?!" He cried with a panicked yelp, clenching his left eye closed against a sting of tears.

"God knows there's _nothing _I wouldn't do for you, but you can't expect me to pretend this didn't happen. I refuse..." Blaise started but a funny feeling made him duck his head down.

Pulling hard from the manacles, the blond had managed to brush briefly his brother's knee with the back of his hand.

"Would I have to beg?" Draco asked without looking at his brother in the eye, desperately hoping Blaise would say _no_.

Blaise cupped Draco's hand in his, comforting the blonde's cold skin with his warmth and smiled sadly. "No, of course not. What makes you say that?"

Lifting his sore eye, Draco said with a thread of voice. "That's what desperate people do: they beg."

Using his other hand, Blaise leaned forward and trailed softly his fingertips down one of Draco's moisten cheeks. "But a Malfoy doesn't beg so don't say things like that again, okay?" The mildness of his voice disguised his rising concern.

The blond nodded and pushed the nervous knot down his throat. "Blaise, I'm tired of fighting. I don't know what else to do to make you understand..."

But Blaise hushed him, tracing a finger over Draco's mouth, brushing those pale lips with his fingertip. "I don't want us to fight either."

A familiar painful feeling twisted in Draco's gut when Blaise started touching him again but this time the blond didn't move as Blaise continued to caress his face with his fingertips.

"Brother, enough." The words left Draco's lips in a shaky undertone.

Blaise leaned closer and said with an infinitely sad voice. "Don't push me away."

"I can't stand…" Draco then clamped hard his teeth, looking beyond scared, and began to tremble in spite himself when Blaise's eager fingers started rubbing behind the back of his neck, massaging softly his skin.

"I can't stand being touched by anyone." The blond finally finished the sentence trying to be cautious enough so that Blaise wouldn't take it personally.

"But I'm not _anyone_ so relax." Blaise soothed with a forced calm tone that underlined a building tension.

"I've been drugged and tied to a bed. I can't imagine being more _forced_ to be relaxed than I am right now." The blond replied harshly.

Feeling Blaise's hand trailing the sides of his neck – acting like a vampire searching for the best angle to dig his fangs on that ivory skin - Draco squeezed his eyes shut in fear and pulled unconsciously from the manacles trying to set himself free from the bonds.

Blaise's shoulders hunched, angst was strangling his throat when he spoke. "You're acting as if you were afraid of me."

Draco smirked somewhat artificially. "And you're acting as if you were guilty of something." He shot back, staring blankly past his brother.

Emotion clogged Blaise's throat again as his fingertips traveled softly the bandages that wrapped Draco's chest before pressing softly his open palm over the blonde's right bare shoulder where was once marked the Lifespan Seal.

"Draco, I want you to know that you can count on me. No matter how much we've both changed, you and I would always be soul-mates." A burdened expression crossed Blaise's face.

A knot in his throat prevented Draco from speaking too but then he started to suspect that Blaise already knew that he'd got no magic essence left in him. _"Of course he knows. It takes a single touch to realize if someone has or not magic within. That's the reason why I don't want anyone to touch me ever again. Blaise knows I'm a Squib now but he would never bring up the subject unless I do. He'd be willing to maintain the farce and spare me from the shame until the day it becomes impossible to hold such façade. But I can't tell him the truth because if I do I'd give him control over me… more than the one he'd procured himself already. We're both playing the fool here."_

Draco's voice came weak and shaky. "No-one but me is to blame for what happened. I got what I deserved, okay?"

"BOLLOCKS!" Blaise spitted with an anger tightening his nerves. "What you deserve is to be with someone capable to appreciate and cherish you for a change!"

Draco started trembling unconsciously again; he squeezed his eye shut for a moment as he tried to steady his breathing. "I've pushed things way too far and now Luna does not only hate me but wants me dead and I can't take it anymore. She resents me for having saved her life, because of that she got pregnant and the Ghoul powers got the best of her. I've turned her whole life upside down! And I know it's been difficult for you to adjust and live with your new abilities after coming back from the other side of the veil. I'm perfectly aware that knowledge and power could easily turn into a burden rather than a gift. I should never have dared to _play god_. No-one can come back, if they do then they're not who they once were. None of us three are the same…not anymore! I know that because when I came back after Pettigrew killed me, I felt remotely like myself. This is _not_ life, this is a living Hell!"

Drying the blonde's wet cheeks with the back of his hand, Blaise soothed with an angsty, sad voice. "You're talking as if you were alone, and you're not: you've got me. Part of being strong is being able to admit you need help sometimes. I've told you we'd always split hardships fifty-fifty. Let me carry half the burden."

"Now that my son made it to the ninth month he won't depend on me because his magic powers won't become unstable if I'm not around. And the curse of the Red Threads of Destiny would no longer take effect nor trim his pursue of finding true happiness because the moment we've promised to each other both were different persons: he only had a small portion of humanity in him and I was…I'm not that man anymore." Draco corrected himself but then a strangled, sound sob that he couldn't hold back any longer made Blaise's heart shattered even more. "Everybody knows that many followers of the Dark Lord swore revenge and want my head over a plate. If something happened to me, I'm counting on you to watch over Scorpius. You're his uncle and he is the future of our Clan."

"Of course, that's what families do: they watch over each other. You and my nephew are my life." After pressing a soft kiss over the bandage that covered Draco's forehead, Blaise soothed. "Draco, you've been through enough. You should rest so that you can recover promptly, okay? Do it for your son."

Draco fixed his watery left pearl gray eye on his brother's pitch-black gems. "Brother, if for some reason I don't make it by the time my heir is of age to understand, tell Scorpius that he's the best thing I've ever done in my life. Don't let him resent me, okay?" He finished with an angsty hiss.

Cupping both hands on Draco's cheeks, Blaise leaned forward and hissed angrily an inch apart the blonde's mouth. "What's with that paranoia?! Have you forgotten that you're the most powerful wizard in the history of the Wizardy World?!"

"_You can't change someone without destroying who he was before. What Luna did changed me forever: I'm no longer a wizard." _The blond Slytherin said to himself and swallowed hard. "I might be paranoid but that doesn't rule out the fact that there would always be someone out there to get me."

Blaise narrowed his eyes, seeing Draco through his thick eyelashes and sneered coldly. "No-one would stand the chance to harm you ever again, this I swear to you."

"Blaise, what happened during the hours I've lost?" Draco inquired shortly before a stinging burn coursed through his right wrist. The urges to scratch his skin made his course of thinking drift in that direction.

"Last night I've made a promise to myself. I've promised I'd never failed again when it comes to guard and protect your life." Blaise replied strangely calm.

Unconsciously - without repairing on what his right hand was doing - Blaise started rubbing softly his long fingers behind the manacle that surrounded Draco's wrist.

"You'd better scratch it harder or untie me right now so I can do it myself." Draco said as the sensation circling his wrist started to get disgustingly itchy.

Snapping out of his trance after hearing Draco's voice, Blaise bit his lip when he realized Draco had said something and he wasn't listening.

"What are you waiting for? I can't stand it anymore, the itch is killing me! Come on!" Draco urged, getting impatient.

Blaise's eyes opened wide and his cheeks went purple red in a micro-second.

"I want to…I _really_ do but…you're still recovering. It could help though…I mean…it's a positive stimulus…I can't wait either…so if that's okay with you..." Blaise stammered in between words, his heart slamming high and tight in his chest and his manhood went from throbbing to aching.

But Draco cut Blaise's fantasy abruptly. "Scratch my wrist harder!"

"Your…wrist…Ohhhkay…" Once reality settled inside Blaise's mind, he swallowed hard before complying.

"Dammit, I feel like a flea-bitten dog!" The blond complained annoyingly.

Blaise coughed nervously. "This means that you're no longer afraid of me, are you?"

"Why on earth would I be afraid of you?!" Draco shot back angrily without paying attention to Blaise's blushing, his enraged left eye continued to be fixed on his wrist.

Despite Blaise was somewhat lost with Draco's erratic mood swings the sadness that had soured him scarce moments ago disappeared in a rush of optimism.

Fighting against the increasing of his body's temperature that threatened to cloud his five senses, Blaise inquired. "Does it feel better now?"

Draco closed shut his eye and exhaled blissfully while Blaise's fingertips provided a carefully controlled friction around his wrist.

"Good enough to wag my tail." Draco shot back with a mocking smirk.

Those words made Blaise sweat even more; he had to bit his lip from preventing a nasty joke escape his lips.

"Mr. Blaise Malfoy!" Two different voices called in unison.

"SHIT!" Caught completely off guard, Blaise jumped guiltily - sucking a shocking gasp - and tried to compose himself, releasing Draco's wrist in the process. He first look over his shoulder before turning to face the Aurors that remained standing on opposite sides of the doorframe.

"Mr. Malfoy, I'm here to take your deposition regarding the events that took place last night and lead to the attempted murder of your brother committed by your sister-in-law." One hurried to speak first.

"Sir, you'd need to sign this writ of execution regarding your petition for custody." The other wizard prompted.

Draco looked beyond alarmed. "Blaise, what's the meaning of all this?!"

After kneeling besides the bed and pressing a kiss on the back of Draco's hand – in a public display of humbleness that bordered submissiveness – Blaise locked his pitch-black eyes on his brother's face:

"_Whenever I set my sight on a goal, I carry it through to the end. My goal is to become __the one who can protect and support you in every way possible. Yesterday, when I've met my mother for dinner, I've claimed the share of my father's will, the one that rightfully belonged to me once I reached the majority of age. I just couldn't continue to be comforted by what you've offered me and be satisfied with that without giving something in return. Despite your being emancipated, you're still a minor. After what happened last night, it's obvious that you can no longer differ what's convenient for you anymore. I've turned eighteen last week, I'm an adult now. I've requested a petition to be your legal guardian…yours and Scorpius' too." _

Draco looked at Blaise blankly without being able to pronounce a word – as he unconsciously concentrated hard and tried to focus - but nothing happened for he perceived a blind silence coming from his brother's mind. Such extreme effort awoken the pain-killing effects of the medicinal potions - or maybe the ones of the healing charms - making him feel a little_ too_ drowsy all of a sudden.

"Stop unnerving me and get up. Don't you ever forget who you are." The blond spoke with a voice that came weak in spite of his rising anger.

Blaise did as requested but not before replying under his breath so that only Draco could hear. "The same goes to you, brother. My actions have just mirrored your attitude: by looking down on yourself you're humiliating me."

Draco narrowed his eye and smirked uncomfortably.

Blaise then placed the envelopes of the tests inside one of the inner pockets from his jacket and spoke with a tense voice. "I'd be back as soon as I'm through with these people and we'd read the results together, okay?"

"Brother, could you… at least… untie me?" The blond managed to drag the words out of his mouth; he was starting to get really dizzy.

Blaise straightened the fabric of jacket's suit and rearranged the loose knot of his tie. "Not just yet. You should rest and relax. Allow the healing treatment to take fully effect on you and don't worry about anything. I'm taking the matter into my own hands."

By then the painkillers kicked inside Draco so hard that he felt as if he was drowning in the soft cushioned mattress of the bed.

As he stepped outside Draco's room, Blaise faced the doctor with dark serious look. "I know I don't have to say this but I trust this is just between the two of us. My brother doesn't want the results of the tests to become public."

"Sir, those are confidential files. No-one except from you and your brother are entitled to read them. After finishing examining the samples taken from his physical frame and magical aura, the information was protected so that not even the medical staff in charge of the examinations knew their results. If there's anything else I can do for you or your brother, don't hesitate to ask." The witch paused, her eyes then filled with tears of gratitude. "My little girl is alive because of you. She's one of the Ravenclaw student's you've help escape the night Hogwarts' Headmaster and the teaching staff was held hostage by the Death Eaters. Thank you for saving what's most precious to me." She finished, hugging back the tears.

There was a long silence between them, Blaise then smiled to himself and let the witch carry on with her duties. He'd read the truth in her eyes. That woman presented to threat whatsoever, on the contrary, she might even turn up to be a most useful ally.

Turning his attention to one of the aurors, Blaise grabbed the bunch of parchments and started reading them fast - yet thoroughly and cautiously – before signing_. "It's settled then, I've became their legal guardian."_

After the departure of the first auror, the jet black haired Slytherin addressed the other wizard with a casual smirk. "Let's get this over with, shall we? I don't want to leave my brother in the condition he's in alone for that long."

The auror signaled a door in front of them and waited for Blaise to step inside first. Blaise hanged his jacket on the back of the chair's rest, unbuttoned and rolled the sleeves of his white shirt and took sit across the table.

Pushing up his spectacles - which had slid down the bridge of his sharp pointed nose – the auror then finished setting the quill, ink and parchment in front of him.

"Mr. Malfoy, what happened last night?" He asked Blaise with a toneless voice.

lllllllllllllllllllllllllll Beginning of Blaise's Flashback llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

More than eating Blaise was playing with the food on his place. He looked up and stared fixedly at the row of candles that hanged from the crystal beaded chandelier. The crystal cut prisms of the gilt bronze waterfall shaped lighting fixture reflected the rainbow colors on the plain white painted ceiling: that relaxing view eased somehow his distressed mind.

Looking at her son from the other end of the table, Clarissa asked quite sternly. "Have you forgotten to eat? You've lost a _lot_ of weight in a _very_ short time."

"The fact that I'm here tonight doesn't mean that I've forgot what you've put me through all these years. You'd better drop the act and give me what I came from." Blaise confronted her bluntly.

"With the passing of the months you're starting to match Draco's unhealthy slimness." She said, pushing the subject.

"_For fuck sakes, the things I've got to put up with in order to get what's mine! If that's how it's gonna be then I'll play along one last time …"_ Blaise said to himself while balancing the fork between two fingers and replied resentfully without looking directly at his mother. "That fat cow eats for the four of us. Watching her stuff herself compulsively with food makes me lose my appetite."

"How far is Luna now?" The woman inquired after nibbling a small piece of chicken.

"About nine full moons." He said as he cut – more likely murdered – the grilled chicken breast that laid defenseless on his plate.

"You look tired." Clarissa marked with a worried tone in her soft voice. "Trouble sleeping too?"

Blaise lost grip of the knife and it fell onto the floor with a loud _clank_ sound. "The last couple of months Draco and I have been perfecting our magic abilities and training our physical skills non-stop. Besides we've been studying like crazy in order to pass the exams at Hogwarts so that we can graduate a year earlier than the rest."

She left the fork and knife on a side of the plate and carefully brushed her delicate button rose lips over the napkin. "You've done remarkable at school, always top marks and you barely had to work hard to get them: you're a child prodigy. I never understood why you've sabotaged yourself in order to look less bright than Draco. Did you fear he would reject you for being smarter than him?"

Tracing boringly the open work of the silver napkin ring with his index finger, Blaise shot back. "I've learnt more from him than he'd ever do from me."

She shook her head slightly. "That doesn't mean he's better than you: that only highlights your deep interest in him. And I dare say you've benefited from the extra time you'd spend with Draco pretending to be _studying_."

"I _was_ studying…him." The Slytherin finished with an accomplished smirk.

"Any excuse is a good one to be alone with Draco and keep amassing mementos together just the two of you, am I right?" Clarissa asked with a sad smile, not really wanted to receive an answer this time.

Blaise limited to snort vaguely.

She then curled behind her ear a long strand of her ink-black hair and looked up at her son. "Anyway…why the rush?"

After emptying in one large sip the whole content of wine from his goblet, the Slytherin explained. "Being a parent demands sacrifice and responsibility. We both wanted to finish our studies by the time Scorpius is born."

"Draco is the father. You're talking as if you were…" Clarissa started but was soon interrupted by the sound of glass breaking.

"I'm Scorpius' uncle." Blaise replied bluntly, brushing annoyingly with one hand the remaining glass splinters from the goblet that fell onto his lap. Luckily the fabric of his suit and shirt were magically stainless.

Clarissa chuckled bitterly at her son's distress. "You and Draco might not sleep in the same bed but you live under the same roof, spent most of the day together sharing countless mutual interests, confiding secrets and even finishing each other sentences: you two behave practically like an old married couple. You even have his last name and own a third of his fortune for heaven's sake!"

Apparating scarce inches from where Blaise was sited, she held his right hand in hers. "It's obvious that Draco cares about you in a way he'd never done for anyone else before. He even gave you this gold ring, the very same one that once belonged to him nonetheless." She concluded, reading carefully the monogrammed initials on the jewel.

Pulling his hand from those venomous claws, Blaise cleared his voice. "Draco gave it to me last week as birthday's present."

"My oh my! Let me hear all about that memorable anecdote." Clarissa demanded to know, resting her hips against the edge of the table.

Blaise's face changed and the room went away before his eyes as the memory caught up to him:

_After banging the door of Draco's study open, Blaise stormed inside the room and ringed his long fingers around Luna's wrist, spinning violently her body to face him. _

_Lifting his enraged pitch-black eyes from her swollen belly he warned right into her face. "I swear I'll make you swallow your broken teeth one of these days, you little cunt!"_

"_Don't make promises you can't keep." Luna spoke defiantly and - releasing forcefully from Blaise's grip – she then turned to look at her husband with a mixture of sadness and regret. "Draco, I didn't…"_

"_I know." Draco cut her abruptly and levered himself slowly to his feet and stood in front of them swaying, narrowing his gaze to clear somehow his foggy vision. _

_To Blaise Draco's face looked paler__ and his skinny body weaker than ever, his mismatched eyes were bruised from lack of sleep. _

"_I thought you'd like to come along with us__ and celebrate together as family." Draco paused to __lay a hand over the palm-shaped warmth on his cheek and smirked bitterly__. "Guess I was wrong…again."_

_Tears welled in __Luna's eyes. She started to say something, stopped, then barely hissed. "If I refuse to go to that dinner is because I know when I'm not welcomed." _

"_Luna, it won't be the same if you're not there. You're going to make me miss you." The moment their eyes meet, Luna caught a glimpse of a hurt so deep in those mismatched gems that it literally tore her apart but she composed herself with inhuman will-power. _

"_I'm going to bed. Have fun tonight Draco." She dismissed herself without daring to look Draco a second time and closed the door shut behind her. _

_Blaise followed her with his eyes shooting a hateful frown at her. "I've heard you and her shoutings from the other side of the house. What were you two arguing about?" His voice broke the tense silence of the room._

"_You couldn't possible have heard us, I've cast a silence charm. So you'd better come up with a better excuse to back up your intromission." The scolding tone in Draco's voice sounded weary._

"_I was bored. I've just finished reading the book you gave me yesterday, a very good one by the way, so I wanted to discuss it together and I also wanted you to recommend me another one because I'm afraid you know better than I the kind of reading I like." Blaise replied, offering the most truthful excuse possible. _

_It was remotely a lie but it wasn't the complete truth either. After all, what was he supposed to say, that he wanted to hang out with Draco 24/7?_

"_You were bored…" Draco blinked several times, trying to pull himself together. "And you've got no better idea than to step in the middle of yet another conversation between me and my wife. Tell me something Blaise, what is so amusing about my non-existent private life?" He demanded to know before lifting the drink he'd left forgotten over his desk with a shaky pulse and finished the glass of whisky in one large sip._

_Blaise refused to reply to that question, his eyes were fixed of the empty bottle that lied next to Draco's drained glass. "You're going to quit that nasty habit of yours the moment Scorpius is born, right?" _

_Copying his brother's refusal to answer a direct question, Draco kept himself silent. He then ran both hands through his long silk blond fringe - repairing on the fact that he needed to get a hair-cut soon - and sighed soundly, more than combing he was pulling angrily from it._

"_I won't tolerate that tone of yours when addressing Luna." The blond said, finally getting out the tension from his chest._

"_If you can't make that bitch respect you, you've left me no choice."__ Blaise grabbed Draco by his bony shoulders and pushed him against the door of the blonde's study. "For fuck sakes, look what she reduced you to!__"_

_Finding himself cornered Draco asked. "What do you want?!" His mismatched eyes stared at Blaise without blinking, visibly furious. _

"_I want to take care of you. I can make you feel good...really good…" Grinding his hardness against Draco's thighs – rubbing as sensually and shamelessly as a feline in heat – he made his intention known. _

"_Blaise, what does it take for you to stop talking nonsense?__" Draco accused with a deep and harsh yet tightly controlled voice before brushing Blaise's hands off him._

"_You don't want me to talk? Fine!" __Blaise dropped suddenly to his knees before Draco, surprising him._

"_What the Hell you think you're doing?!" Draco asked exasperatedly. _

"_Finding a way to keep my mouth busy..." __The other replied, moving upwards his hands, lingering dangerously close to where Draco's manhood was beneath the soft fabric of his dark pants._

_The blond cursed roughly__ and grabbed Blaise by the armpits, trying to pull him up._

_Immobile__ like a statue in his kneeling position, Blaise chuckled at Draco's failed attempts. "What's wrong with having yet another dirty little secret between us?"_

_Pulling from the thick chain of Blaise's sterling locket Draco strangled his brother up to his feet._

"_Seems that you've forgotten who you are..." Draco then curled the long chain tighter around his knuckles, squeezing even more the grip of Blaise's neck and shouted right into his face. "A MALFOY DOESN'T KNEEL BEFORE ANYONE!" _

_Suddenly, __Blaise darted his head forward and pressed a stolen kiss to Draco's lips. "Get all your rage out and use it to fuck me. Open and break me however you want and don't stop until you're done teaching me how to behave and who's in control. Fuck me raw, make it hurt and burn and bleed. Come inside, fill me and brand me as yours." He pleaded with a desperate needy moan; his eyes were dilated with the darkness of a lust so profound that it was scary. _

_Blaise's disturbingly out-of-the-blue submissiveness took the blond completely aback with a mixture of panic, hurt, terror and sadness so powerful that the gesture seemed to get plastered permanently on his face. The fact that Blaise considered degrading himself to such shameless level made Draco's insides burn with guilt: he was dealing with a man so desperate to please him that limits were non-existing. His fingers released the grip on the sterling chain around Blaise's neck and took a step back. _

"_I need a drink." He squeaked with a frightened thread of voice and turned his back on Blaise. _

_But Blaise grabbed Draco from behind and turned him to face him. "You don't need alcohol but to get laid."_

_Wrapping himself in Draco's numbed arms, Blaise pressed his back against his brother.__ "I'm __tight, hot and more than willing…__ your room or mine?"__ He asked flirtatiously, rubbing himself against Draco's crotch. _

_Draco pulled Blaise away fiercely, balling his hands into tight fists.__ "Blaise, enough!"_

_Laughing without humor, Blaise asked. "When was the last time that frigid nutcase let you touch her…seven months ago…eight months ago? You can't even remember the last time you two have sex, can you?! The moment you've brought Luna back to this Chateau that little bitch confronted you and told you that if you'd loved her you wouldn't touch her ever again. You're hoping one day she'll come willingly to you, but she won't! Your wait is in vain__ and you know it, don't you? No matter how much you change for her, she won't come to you because she doesn't love you, she never did!" _

_Draco lowered his head, blinking back the tears that didn't want to stop._

_Blaise cupped Draco's chin with one hand – lifting the blonde's head up - and pulled him closer until both were nose-to-nose. "Aren't you tired of getting up every fucking morning in an empty bed with a painful hard-on and jerk yourself off under a cold shower?" _

_After wiping the tears away from Draco's moisten__ed cheeks with both his thumbs, Blaise knitted his hands behind the blonde's neck._ _"I want you. I want us to become lovers. I want to be able to touch you, lick you, kiss you and jerk you off whenever I want. I want to fuck you but also get fucked by you as many times in the course of each day, in every room of this disgustingly huge house and in every possible way our bodies can take it. I want to wake up in the morning and find you cuddled next to me on the bed. I want to have breakfast in bed with your back pressed against my chest and wrap you with the warmth of my body as I breathe in the exquisite scent of your skin. I want to read the morning's paper and find out the news of the world without having to get up from the bed while you pass the pages and I hug you closer to me or give you a back massage. I want to take long, warm showers with you where I can make a complete wreck of you, then clean you up, then get wrecked by you and get us moped up again. Starting each day like this, we'd most probably get to live forever because that kind of happiness is the closest thing as immortality there is."_

_Pausing to take a deep lungful of air Blaise __trailed his index finger over Draco's mouth – hushing the blonde's reply - and asked with a devilish soft voice. "Do you believe that being with me would make you less of a man, is that your biggest fear? If that's the case then let's take advantage of your past sexual experience and let me assume the passive role in this relationship. After all…your pleasure is my pleasure. Both of us would be giving and receiving in equal shares, this is not a competition we're both lucky winners here. So now that we've settled the rules and assigned the roles let's fuck…shall we?"_

_Draco __gave Blaise a razor sharp look, his__ cheeks went immediately red with fury. "I've already told you that this is not a question because we're both men, that had never been the issue here! I love you, yes, and I wouldn't doubt for a second to give my life for you but I simply don't feel the urges to fuck you nor have the fantasy of getting fucked by you!"_

_Blaise squeezed his eyes shut - feeling like his guts had __just been ripped right out of him - and once he opened them he found that Draco's eyes were surprisingly sad. _

"_Blaise, you're my equal and__ I respect you. It's about time you start respecting me as well because I won't tolerate this crap any longer. I can't stand anymore your constant harassments, if you didn't notice I happen to be a person not a thing to play with! And don't you ever offer yourself to me again as if you were a piece of meat, have some self-respect will you?! If I have sex or not with my wife is my problem and if I refuse to cheat on her is because I do believe in monogamy, commitment and exclusiveness! If those values haven't been put on trial so far is because I haven't met anyone, female or male, who can make my blood burn like Luna does! How many times do I have to say this for you to finally understand me?!"_ _Draco finished losing his temper again, trying in vain to calm his racing heart._

_Exasperated__, Blaise threw a fist into the wall. "You're so used to feel miserable and pathetic that you keep running away from what's unknown to you: your own happiness! You're a coward! Your biggest fear is that if you fuck me you might end up liking it so much that'd make your body unable to stand being without me and you'd lose all control of yourself! Until you let me get under your skin how can you tell for sure that you don't want me? How would you know if you've never tried it before?!" _

_Draco rubbed his eyes tiredly and smirked coldly. "Look who's talking, you're the one completely clueless about his sexuality: you're eighteen and still a virgin. You don't know what you want. Why don't you shag those girlfriends of your mother's? They open their legs faster than their vipery mouths. Give them a try once and for all, if you're still not convinced that's what you want then go ahead and nail their sons. I bet those hypocrites, who are as easy as their progenitors, are eager to lift their arses for you. Just go and experience everything you want with every single one of them. What's stopping you? You're single, unattached and most important…you're a Malfoy!" _

_Tears started to form in the corner of Blaise's pitch-black eyes. "I also believe in monogamy, commitment and exclusivity…that's exactly why I've held myself for you all these years! I don't give a shit about my sexuality: I SIMPLY WANT YOU! So if that makes a homosexual of me, that's who I am for wanting you! But I'd have also craved you as much as I do now if you've been born a woman. That would have made a heterosexual of me and…" He then covered his face with his shaking hands, his voice came tear-clotted. "I would have kidnapped you ages ago, taking you away from Lucius' menace, and married you in a beat BECAUSE I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU! As your life partner I would have fulfilled without failing every single one of my duties towards you, giving you not only the world but also everything I am…and would have enjoyed all the rights I'm being denied now!"_

_The jet black haired Slytherin then lowered his blood-shot eyes to the floor and, aching for some physical comfort, he pitifully hugged himself. "I feel so untouched." _

_Draco started to go to his brother for a com__forting hug but dismissed completely the idea, it'd only make things worse for Blaise to hold back and this time he'd been the culprit for pushing the situation to a dangerous edge. _

"_You only live and die once, you know? I just didn't see it until now...no matter what I say or do…you just can't see me…you can't hear me…and that's because I don't exist." Blaise then turned his back on Draco and started walking slowly, dragging his feet on the floor._

_Feeling a growl coming up his throat, Draco broke the silence. "That's not true. Brother, wait!" _

_Sobbing silently, Blaise turned to look at the blond, his pitch-black eyes were watering. "I'd rather lock myself up at St. Mungos' mental wing and throw away the key than receive your pity. That's probably the one thing I don't want from you and the only one I'd get in the end. I'm perfectly aware that I shouldn't feel the desire to fuck you and I shouldn't wish I could get fucked by you either. I know I'm sick, okay?"_

"_No, you're not." Draco replied bluntly before adding. "Your mother fed you with that discriminating crap for years. Don't start repeating her. Don't let her intolerance win you over."_

_Blaise wiped a tear from his cheek and sucked up air. "But she's right when she says that my father would be ashamed of me if he'd see me now!"_

_Draco's voice continued talking, this time with a very calm matter-of-fact tone. "I bet your father would have agreed with me when I say that you're just like the rest of us all: everyone is born naturally bisexual. I mean, despite the obvious differences between the female and male anatomy they're both equally prepared to engage a full sexual activity with the same gender without jeopardizing, altering or damaging the functionality of any vital organ or putting health at risk in the process. Just think about this: if something is physically possible to achieve effortlessly and it brings the body gratification, pleasure and satisfaction in the making why would it be considered unnatural, wrong, twisted or sick…like your mother accuses? How can it be unnatural if mother-nature designed our bodies to achieve such goals successfully? Wrong would be to deny what our flesh is commanding us to do. Sex makes us happier and healthier, not sicker. Now regarding the twisted part, I don't consider that a negative aspect either but a positive one: it's amazing how flexible the human body is! We own our bodies and no-one but us determine what we can or can't do with them. People are constantly making choices along their lives, they take some things…they discard others…they take them all. Some choose to get intimate with the opposite sex…others with their same gender…others with both!" He concluded with an amused smirk as if rejoicing himself with the topic. _

"_For fuck sakes Draco! Listen to what you're saying!" Blaise shot back with a serious pissed-off look._

"_Wait a second, did I miss something?! I thought that I was the narrow-minded homophobic git here!!" Draco spitted the words sarcastically and ironically because he couldn't understand Blaise's attitude._

"_Can't you see that you're not helping?! STOP GIVING ME HOPE!" Blaise whimpered. _

_For an instant Draco remained still as a statue, he then blinked twice coming back to his senses along with the rising of a dangerous warm anger. "I can't believe this! You're implying that I've misleaded you, messed with your head and played you for not looking down on you, mock, trash, soil or laugh at you just for being you?! WELL, EXCUSE ME FOR TREATING YOU LIKE A PERSON!"_

_Regret tainted Blaise's voice when he spoke again. "That's not what I meant. What I'm saying is that you're constantly providing rational motives and logical reasons to back up my irrational actions and instead of beating the shit out of me for my indecent behavior you're always acting so overprotective that I don't know what to think anymore. But then I hit reality when I see you pushing me away with such determination that I feel as if you don't want me around at all. It makes me want to get away as far from here as I could… thinking you'd be better off without me." He finished with a painful hiss, those last words were almost unheard. _

"_Go wherever you want to go and do whatever you have to do in order to find yourself but you'd do it by walking out the front door with your head high, fully provided with everything you need in order to start your journey and not by running away through the window only with your clothes on your back. No matter what happens or how long it takes, you'd always count with a place to come back to because this is your home, this is where you belong. You've got a family that loves you just the way you are and needs you as well because you're an essential part of it." __Draco's slow smirk lifted the weight off Blaise's chest. __"Don't be a stranger and remember to write, okay?" _

"_I'm not going anywhere without you: you're stuck with me…for eternity." Blaise sentenced firmly. _

_Draco squeezed his eyes shut for a brief moment as Blaise's answer aroused contradicted emotions inside him. "Everything I've done in order to procure your freedom had ended up enslaving you." _

_When Draco spoke again he did it with a ragged tone in his broken voice. "I've given you my blood, the same one that not only ended up poisoning you but also erased your past in the process, because I thought that was the only way I had to protect you. I've brought you back from the dead, as a complete different man though, because I couldn't stand the idea that you were gone. I've given you a place in my family and in my home, which end up practically destroying your relationship with your mother, because I wanted to share with you everything I've got. Yes, I've been disgustingly selfish…but I just wanted what's best for you!" _

_Waving both hands in the air, Blaise emptied his lungs exasperatedly. "What's best for me, really?! You are what's best for me, so what are you going to do about it?! When are you going to stop running away from me in order to hold me, kiss me…AND FUCK ME?!" _

_Draco's pearl-gray eye twitched angrily. "Do I have to remind you again who you are?!" _

_Blaise let go a puff of air as he spoke with a low, harsh voice. "I knew it! I fucking knew it! You're a hypocrite! You're so full of shit! I might be willing to bend over and take it like a woman if that what it takes to be with you but at least I'm man enough to admit my feelings and my needs!"_

"_This is not about our sexual preferences but about our true nature! Use and abuse and fuck whoever you want!" Draco then paused for a much needed intake of air and then emptied his lungs out with a raw scream. "BUT NEVER, EVER ALLOWED YOURSELF TO BE USED OR ABUSED OR FUCKED BY ANYONE BECAUSE YOU ARE A MALFOY! YOU'RE ABOVE THE REST!" _

_Both Slytherins looked into each other's eyes for a whole minute without blinking. Draco's heart skipped two beats when Blaise's gaze turned from shocking to plotting._

"_So that's the real reason why you refuse to fuck me, it's not because I'm a man but because I'm a Malfoy?!" Snaking one arm around Draco's slim waist, Blaise slammed the blond against him. "And what if I want to fuck you?!" _

_Draco swallowed awkwardly as __a spurt of panic folded his stomach in on itself._

"_I can't do that either, can I? You're also a Malfoy!" Blaise __pressed his lips together to keep back a groan of frustration __and rested his forehead against one of Draco's sharp shoulder-blades. _

_Refusing to break the embrace, Blaise snaked his other arm around the blonde's waist. "I want you to hug me. Can we do that at least?"_

_Draco wrapped both arms over Blaise's shoulders, welcoming the embrace, and padded softly his brother's back in a reassuring manner. _

"_I wish we could stay like this, in each other's arms, forever." Blaise whispered into Draco's hear before asking with a shaky voice. "Do you hate me for__ always finding excuses to get this close to you__?" _

_Blaise tried to __pull himself back together with a visible effort, but in reality the one thing that Blaise was pulling was Draco's body tighter, so tight that Draco could feel Blaise's ribs pressing against his own._

_Draco narrowed his sore mismatched eyes, shooting a dead-serious look. "It was never easy for me to put up with your constant outbursts of both good and bad temper. Ever since we were kids, whenever we started discussing a matter and you didn't agree with something I said, you simply threw yourself over me, tackled me to the ground and forced me to retract my words…which I never did and that only encouraged you to squash me even more onto the floor." _

"_A shame you're not ticklish." Blaise lamented himself silently. _

_Continuing with his exposition –more like passing a long-due bill - Draco found himself remembering. "And whenever something was worthy to be celebrated, like the times our House scored more points than Gryffindor or Potter and his friends got caught in one of the dark magic jinxes I've settled every morning at the entrance of the Great Hall with the purpose to humiliate them in front of everybody, you either locked your arms around my chest until you made me puke what I've just eat for breakfast, stamped your palm on my back making me spit whatever I was drinking, ringed your arms around my neck until I barely got air left to breathe or hurled me up, throwing me on your back upside down and start spinning until I get nauseous. With the passing of the years you haven't changed a bit: you're still a brute." He concluded, eyeing judgingly at the arms that seized him like a tourniquet around his waist before breaking free of the embrace with a flick of his wand. _

_Blaise lifted both hands up in the air – in a sign of surrender - and kept his thoughts to himself again. "That's because you awake the beast in me but I can be gentle too." _

"_Talking about Hogwarts..." Draco took a step back, turned round towards the mini bar and filled two glasses with whisky. "Let's make a toast to the greatest Headmaster of them all." _

"_To Severus Snape!" Draco cheered before emptying thirstily the glass. _

"_To Severus Snape!" Blaise repeated with equal animosity but barely moistened his lips with it and rested the glass over the fireplace behind him._

_Draco looked a little disorientated for a moment as his system adjusted itself to yet another load of alcohol. Aware of the weariness in Draco's body, Blaise leaded the blond against the edge of the desk, hurled him up - for Draco to take sit over the furniture - and leaned forward until they were nose-to-nose. _

"_You haven't answered my question. Do you hate me for doing things like…this?" Blaise then grabbed Draco's hand in his and lifted it to his face, trailing it downside his cheek. _

"_You can make me mad to the point of weighting the idea of ripping your head off, but you can't make me hate you. Na…ah… You can make me love you to the point that I'd give my life for you, but you can't make me want you. Na...ah…" The blond said with a faulty tone, as if singing a song._

"_I'd never stop wanting you." __Blaise said before his throat squeezed shut and brushed his lips inside Draco's palm._

_Taking Blaise's face in his hands, __Draco soothed with a drugged smirk. "Blaise… mate… brother… it's understandable: you confide in me. We know each other since we were tiny…little brats." He paused to stifle yet another hiccup. _

_He then grabbed Blaise firmly by his shoulders and started explaining. "We've literally been through Hell and back. We've done everything together except shagging. So it would make sense for you to feel this way about me because, after all, intimacy is a question of trust." _

"_And lust." The other added to himself __lasciviously and __positioned himself standing right in between Draco's long legs, his hips brushing the blonde's thighs. _

_Draco's voice sounded tired, there was a subtle numbness in his tone too. "But while you're focusing all your attention and investing all your time in me you're preventing others from getting to know you the way I do. Don't shut yourself into what you know and what you feel safe and comfortable with. You've got to venture…and seek…and find…and learn…and explore what's out there!" He encouraged, partially interrupted with hiccups. _

"_Draco, for one reason or another, people had always made me feel as if there was something wrong with me. You're the only one who never treated me like a freak." The way Blaise looked at him, with such sorrow in his foggy eyes, nearly ripped the blond apart. "With the early death of my father and subsequently brief marriages of my mother, I practically grew up around women so it was easy for me to handle them without the slightest problem, but when they started to come up to me my self-confidence was put on trial: I didn't want to do anything with them but I couldn't explain exactly why. A couple of years after I met you, when we started at Hogwarts and we practically see each other from the moment we wake up until we went to sleep, I got haunted with crazy ideas at night and found myself dreaming that you were a girl instead of a boy. When I finally hit reality and admitted that I was not into girls another realization came almost simultaneously: I was not into boys either. The idea of doing something to or with a guy made my stomach sink and revolt my guts with disgust just like when thinking about scoring with a chick. But whenever you came around, it was a complete different story and the list of things I wanted to do with and to you was practically endless. By the end of second year I started getting pissed with equal fury whenever I felt someone staring at me or at you longer than they should or when they come up to us with some excuse to make conversation and step in the middle. The paranoia was such that by fourth year I ended up picking up fights after every Quidditch match because, even if a chaser is supposed to be closely followed by the other team's players and every move a seeker makes is measured and evaluated almost clinically, I felt as if they were harassing us! By the end of fifth year I've kept amassing inside my head every possible way to murder Pansy without getting caught because I couldn't stand her stalking you daily. I've also got to refrain myself from killing those horny girls who got no better idea but to stain, set on fire or shrunk my cloaks and sweaters because they wanted to see me shirtless by the end of the day so they could take photos and rank every inch of my body afterwards! When I found out that you've fallen for Luna, well… you get the idea." _

_Blaise closed his watery eyes painfully and then opened them again, his words came out low and tear-clotted. "During the time I was away in Greece, living with my mother and her new hubby, I've subconsciously started comparing every single person I come across with you. That made me miss you more, and love you more and want you more…if possible. My mother, she wanted me to see reason so she practically locked me up in the house and invited my ex-fiancée to spend the days with us. Lilith, Hyperion's daughter, was very skillful with her psychic magic. She accessed inside my head with the purpose to fix me up…to straight me up. She even tried to erase my memories of you, but she couldn't. In spite of all the things she tested and experimented on me, she kept failing…and failing… and failing…and that only made her angrier, bitter and resentful!" There was anger in Blaise's voice now and Draco didn't blame him. _

"_One night, coming back from a black-out after Lilith tortured me mentally for over ten hours non-stop, I gathered enough strength and sharpness to plot my escape and my instincts ended up leading me to you. I know I had no right to throw that weight over your shoulders…but I had no place to go."_ _He finished practically coming undone, trembling all over and lifted his gaze to meet Draco's. _

_Draco wrapped __protectively one arm around his brother's shoulders and pull Blaise to him; with his free hand he padded softly Blaise's head __as if he were a child.__ "I'm glad you trusted your instincts. Back then you didn't know that your place was here and neither did I. But when I think about that morning, when you arrived at the Chateau shortly after Luna ran away, all I can remember is that it felt right: you needed a home to call your own and I needed a family to belong to." _

_Blaise nuzzled in the warmth of blonde's neck, his body __shaking against Draco with breathless sobs. "You're the only one who stimulates the core of my psyche, the only one who magnifies the essence of my magic and the only one who makes my body rack with a fire so painful that it's soul shaking!"_

_Draco pulled away slowly and cradled his long fingers around Blaise's skull, forcing him to look into his mismatched eyes. "You know exactly who you are and what you want. I felt like that once, shortly after meeting Luna…AND LOOK WHERE ALL THAT LEADED ME!" He shouted, wanting to startle Blaise and bring him back to his senses at once. _

_His brother's pitch-black__ eyes widened with an unpleasant feeling__. _

"_Now more than ever when I look at you I see me and that makes me feel…everything but proud with myself." __Draco's hands fell numbed on either sides of his body._

_The jet black Slytherin felt his heart squeeze and twist painfully inside his ribcage. _

_Draco turned to look at the mini bar and then back to Blaise. "Do you think I like to make a fool of myself daily, allowing Luna to discharge her frustrations over me because that's the only way I've found to please her or embarrassing myself in front of you, seeing you mope and clean after the mess I made of myself when I'm totally wasted?!" He spitted with an edge of anger. "But I have to drown the voice that's inside my head! Dammit! She's pregnant with my heir!" _

"_It'd be a privilege to take care of the problem discreetly and effectively when the time comes." Blaise offered with a dark sheepishly grin. _

_There was so much confusion __in Draco's features. "I didn't say..."_

"_Exactly, so it shouldn't be in your conscience." Blaise cut him bluntly. _

_Draco pulled out from under his sweater the Swastika charm and held it in his palm for Blaise to see. "I can't afford to lose more than I've already had."_

_Eight of the nine gemstones of the Swastika charm were all shattered, as if burned with acid, only one remained intact._

"_I'm running out of time to change things and make them right." The blond Slytherin then ducked his head down, refusing to meet Blaise's gaze and hissed. "Luna keeps drifting away from me and I'm heading straight towards the point of no return." _

_Blaise cupped Draco's chin with one hand, leveling his pitch-black eyes with Draco's mismatched sore gaze. __"You never really know people until you tell them you aren't the person they always thought you were. That's when you find out who you can count on and who you can't."_

"_She doesn't love me so how worse can it gets, right?!" Draco started laughing hysterically, disguising his nervousness. He was completely heart-broken._

_Blaise leaned closer, a blazing surety and determination sparkled in his pitch-black eyes. "__You can count on me. I'll help you along the way with everything you need. I can be useful."_

_Blinking hard, as if coming slowly from a trance, Draco frowned. "What? Useful?__ That's not the proper way to describe a Malfoy but a servant." After a brief pause, the blond drilled his index finger on Blaise's forehead and added with a scolding tone. "You're not my servant but my equal!"_

_Regretting immediately what he'd just done, Draco pressed his open palm to Blaise's forehead, caressing it softly for a brief moment before letting his hand fall numbly to the side of his body._

_Blaise's __fought the weight of his eyelids_ _and let go a __husky whisper__. "Hey, don't stop on my account..." _

_Cursing under his breath, Draco started blaming himself because his overprotectiveness would always end up hurting rather than helping Blaise. _

"_I'm thirsty." The blond Slytherin hopped from over the desk and threw himself over the large couch placed beside his desk. "Brother, would you mind fixing us a drink? I'll have whatever you have. Just make sure you fill the whole glass this time and no ice, don't cheat." _

"_Why don't I just get you the whole bottle?" Blaise offered smiling without humor. _

"_Even when wasted we Malfoys do things with class." Draco arched one playful eyebrow after having accio a filled glass. _

_But the second the blond brushed his lips over the edge of the glass, his drink vanished from his grip: Blaise had cast a vanishing charm, igniting Draco's bad temper. "Now I remember why I prefer to drink alone." _

"_I know the perfect way to achieve a good, sound sleep without suffering a nasty hangover the morning after." Blaise took sit on the couch's arm and smiled candidly at Draco opening wide his arms. "Come to papa!" _

"_I'm not a child! Stop! Treating! Me! Like! One!" The blond spitted every word annoyingly sending consecutive fists onto the couch's cushion. _

"_Who's the brute now?" Blaise joked after taking sit right besides his brother and sighed soundly. "I'm just stating a fact. Whenever you're really beaten all I have to do is hold you in my arms and you immediately fall asleep… and drool all over my shirts." He added with a funny frown. _

_Scratching n__ervously his forehead, Draco had no option but to joke about it. "I've bled all over you once or twice, puked over your shoes on more than one occasion, so what's a little drool to crown it all, right?" _

"_I don't mind the drooling because it's a good sign: it means that you're resting soundly, catching up a well deserved sleep." __The other forced a smile, hiding his worrying._

"_I don't know how you do it." The blond muttered under his breath. _

"_You mean lull you to sleep? Well, men can be paternal without having children." Blaise confessed with an immutable face. _

_Draco caged Blaise's head with both hands and fixed his hazy mismatched eyes on his brother's pitch-black gems. "I won't step over your choices but speaking in behalf of our Clan, I wish there would be a way for you to reconsider the idea of having children. You know as well as I do that your offspring would empower and strengthen like never before the perpetuity of our kind!" _

_Blaise's features hardened for a second before twisting immediately into a mischievous grin. "You're the alchemist. If my genes are as valuable as you say then find a way to get me pregnant and I'll give you as many kids as you want."_

_Shaking his head tiredly, Draco released the hold of Blaise's head and closed shut his eyes. "Very funny...ha…ha..." _

"_Who's joking?" Blaise replied bluntly. _

_Draco's gaze snapped back to Blaise's face, surprise widening his mismatched __sore eyes._

"_I must admit that's not the way I've pictured having you inside me but I'm willing to do it if you want me to." __Blaise shrugged and bit his lip. "You'll take care of me when I'm too bloated to move around by myself, right?"_

_Draco's throat got tight like he was going into anaphylactic shock.__ It was confirmed: for Blaise there were no limits whatsoever. _

_Sadness and a swirl of hurtful emotions tainted Blaise's words. "I see. I'm not good enough for that either, am I?"_

"_Blame it on mother-nature for selecting women to carry out that task." Draco muttered as the __awkwardness of the subject blurred into deep resentment. "I'd switch places with Luna if I could."_

_Now it was time for Blaise to open wide his mouth in shock, igniting Draco's dark amusement. _

"_Women might have ovaries…" A wicked smirk curled Draco's lips when he stretched lazily his body forward - grabbed his crotch with one hand - before making himself comfortable on the couch again. "But we both know which gender has real balls."_

_Blaise's__ eyes kept replaying that scene over and over inside his mind, his heart pounded so hard he could hear it._

_Draco then turned the angle of the conversation. "Blaise, do you think you'd be able to lull Scorpius to sleep too? That would come in handy in a near future, you know?"_

_Coming back to his senses with a self-inflicted mental slap, Blaise narrowed his gaze and inquired venomously. "You're already predicting that Luna would fail as mother as much as she failed as wife?"_

_Truth was…Draco had his doubts. Doubts that made him feel furious with himself for weighting the possibility that nothing would ever change and Luna would end up fearing Scorpius again, even after having him inside her those whole nine months. _

_Dismissing those thoughts from continuing filling his head Draco explained with a proud smirk. "I'm asking you to be part of Scorpius' life from the very beginning. You're his uncle. You're as responsible as me and Luna when it comes to Scorpius' upbringing. I want my son to be nurtured with all the things you're capable of granting and teaching him as well." _

_Blaise nodded and teased with a grin. "Finally someone would take advantage of me!" _

"_Even after Scorpius made it this far there's still a chance he …" But Draco's throat constricted painfully._

_Blaise__'s heart started to beat uneasily after hearing the broken edge of Draco's voice._ _"Challenging situations bring families closer." _

_Draco smirked sourly at how __disturbingly perceptive Blaise was. __"I can't wait to hold my son in my arms and grant him the kind of love my mother gave me. I want to be as good parent as she was with me. I owe her so much…" _

"_The fact that she's dead won't redeem her from the mistakes she'd made: if it wasn't for your mother you'd never met me." Blaise spitted ironically – desperately wanting to get a reaction from Draco - and smiled artificially narrowing his swollen eyes, disguising their redness. _

_It hurt Draco to see Blaise trying to hide behind a fake smile when the sadness in his eyes was too big to disguise._

"_I was the one who chose to go and talk to you, not her." Draco replied with a matter-of-fact tone and closed his tired eyelids shut. _

_Staring at the painting of Narcissa hanging from the wall facing Draco's desk, Blaise pressed his lips tight, his eyes began to sting. "You knew I was Draco's soul-mate, and like most soul-mates, he and I were unlikely to cross our paths. So that's why you've chosen that exact day to bring Draco into my life? Right after I sw__ore to myself that I wouldn't follow my mother's orders ever again, I'd never marry Hyperion's daughter, and was about to retrieve the flask of poison I've stashed under that willow tree to put an end to my life?" _

"_Days are passing incredible slow lately." Draco's complain broke Blaise's train of thought. _

"_I know the feeling of being eagerly waiting for something for so long__." Blaise's voice came out completely strangled, almost unheard._

"_Did you say something?" Draco hummed because he didn't catch Blaise's words._

_To his horror, __Blaise realized he'd been crying silently and got a lump stuck in his gut. _

"_Brother?" Draco was about to open his eyes when the other brushed two fingers over his eyelids._

"_Keep your eyes closed and don't open them, not until you hear me walking out of this room. I swear I won't bring up the subject. We'd never have to talk about this. This won't change anything between us because this has never taken place. This is an illusion, a dream, okay?" Blaise started pleading inches away from Draco's lips, his voice slowly coming undone. _

"_A dream you say?" Draco repeated numbly and – without opening his eyes - he rested his back against the couch, sinking in the cosy cushioned surface. "Ahh…I wish I could dream again."_

_Unable to keep himself passive a second longer, __Blaise's __long fingers started tracing ramdom patterns over Draco's belt._

"_I can help you release all the tension you've got inside so you can procure a sound sleep tonight. You don't have to do anything at all. I'll take care of it for you." Blaise offered with a whisper of voice pulling down slowly the zip of Draco's pants. _

_The blonde's body tensed immediately when he anticipated that Blaise was planning to go down on him. Contrary to his brother's wishes he opened his eyes and __struck a stinging slap across Blaise's face. _

_The force of the __unexpected blow sent the other staggering back a couple of steps who – unable to regain balance - fell onto the floor. _

"_GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE!! ARE YOU AWAKE NOW?!" Draco spitted with a hysterical laughter, pulling up the zipper and pushed himself from the couch, walking a few unsure steps __forward. _

_Without lifting himself from the floor Blaise recoiled his body into a knot, hiding his face in between his knees. It took a blink of an eye for Draco's laughter to be silenced by a sour and bitter regret._

_Draco then extended a hand and ordered. "Brother, get up." _

_But Blaise refused and wrapped both arms over his head. "I can't… look at you…right now...I just can't…" He chocked between whimpers. _

_Clamping his teeth hard, Draco walked towards the mini bar, filled a glass with whisky and drank it all in one large sip before throwing the glass onto the fireplace._

"_We've both let ourselves be carried away for a moment. Neither of us was thinking clearly and I overreacted." Draco heard himself speaking in both their defense. _

"_Don't! I know I fucked things up again, okay?!" By then Blaise was sobbing louder._

"_We're humans. It's not our fault but a fact that we're prone to make mistakes." The blond tossed out, waving carelessly one hand in the air. _

_Blaise looked up, his eyes turned heavy and Draco held his breath a bit longer than he wanted to. "Don't you dare make up excuses for me." _

_Draco forced his face into a calculating sneer. "Look Blaise, I know you didn't …"_

"_BUT I DID! I DID WANT TO JERK YOU OFF!" Blaise cried out loud, trying to ignore the itch that was still aching in his groin. _

"_I KNOW YOU DIDN'T DO IT ON PURPOSE OR WITH THE INTENTION TO HURT ME!" Draco screamed on top of Blaise's cry, finishing the sentence._

_Blaise__ was about to say something but brought his teeth together with a light snap and fixed his gaze to the floor._

_The blond Slytherin then cracked his knuckles and compressed his right hand into a solid fist and - without much further do - he hit himself full in the face. The self-inflicted blow sent him a few steps back, landing on his butt right beside Blaise._

_Blaise lifted his blood-shot eyes and turned to look at Draco completely perplexed. "What the fuck?! Why would you do that for, you self-abusive git?!" _

"_To make me feel somewhat better with myself..." Draco confessed and tilted his head up - cracking the bone back to place - and pressed two fingers against his nose to stop the bleeding. _

_Half-way about to rub the cuff of his shirt over his nose, Blaise saw a handkerchief being thrown at him. _

"_Stop chocking on your phlegm, will you? It's gross!" Draco scolded with a disgusting frown. _

_Feeling in between his fingers the soft texture of the cotton cloth, the jet black haired Slytherin bit his lip while tracing with his fingers the "DM" embroidered silk threaded monogram. But he didn't use it on himself but to wipe up clean Draco's nose instead. _

"_I'd end up babysitting two children instead of one if you continue to act so recklessly." Blaise then folded the handkerchief, kissed it and pocketed it on his pants. _

_Draco was still frowning after looking at the sequence from the corner of the eye. "You should have thrown that away. It's useless now."_

"_It's your blood." After padding his pant's pocket he corrected himself. "My blood…and no way in Hell I'd allow to get it washed." _

_The blond looked confused for a moment. _

"_The handkerchief I mean." Blaise explained with a wicked smile._

_At that remark Draco couldn't help himself and made a snort-like sound. _

_As if haunted by a sudden mood swing Blaise grabbed a fistful of Draco's sweater in his tight fist and pulled him closer. _

"_You want something from me, something only I can give you. You've said it yourself. So what's the problem if I'm okay with you taking whatever is it that you seek in me?! When will you stop hiding behind those stupid wedding bows and your strict family values? They're keeping your most basic instincts on a tight leash! You're living in denial!" __Blaise's __tone was deliberately full of defiance, his breath brushing Draco's lips._

_A throbbing vein started to get traced on Draco's forehead. "You better sharp your listening skills mate and stop putting words on my mouth! If I'm faithful to Luna it's not only because of my wedding bows but because I'm in love with her and it's impossible to fall in love with two or more people at the same time. If you do then you don't love them in the least! And I'm not in denial either, if I'm straight is because the one I want to be with happens to be a woman… simple as that! Am I clear enough this time?!"_

_Blaise got up and grabbed his head between both hands, combing angrily his short jet black blocks before knitting his hands on the back of his neck. "Crystal clear. You love Luna but there's a part of you that hates her even more, on the other hand you wished you could hate me so that your feelings for me won't hurt you the way they do. You might desire her body but what you seek in me goes beyond physical pleasure. The irony in all this is that you'd like to have everything but in reality you're not getting any from neither of us because you're scared. You're afraid of dominating Luna, the moment you do that she'd leave you for good because that bitch despises you and you're terrified of allowing me to submit to you because the moment that happens the dark side of your magic might…" _

"_It'd end up destroying us both in the process!" Draco screamed on top of Blaise's voice, picking himself slowly from the floor._

"_You're a bipolar uptight control-freak." The other snorted bitterly._

"_I've been called worse..." Draco sneered coldly, rubbing his thumb and index finger over his closed eyelids. _

"_Nothing of this would have happened if I hadn't offered my friendship to Blaise. Potter was right when he refused to be my friend. All this time I've blamed that Gryffindor git for looking down on me but he's the one who saw right through me. I'm nothing but a bad seed that smothers everything around me." The blond reflected sadly as he forced himself not to cry, thinking he'd hidden perfectly those thoughts to himself. _

_Pocketing both hands on his pants, Blaise shrugged his shoulders while reading Draco's stream of conscience and confessed out loud. "Meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me. Even if I could, I wouldn't dare to change a single thing. I wouldn't have missed any of that for the world." _

"_You're an obstinated insufferable martyr, you know that?" Draco replied with a shaky undertone fixing his eyes to the floor. _

"_I've been called worse..." Blaise shot back with a dark grin._

_The moment Draco looked up Blaise cocked his head to the side and arched one accomplice eyebrow at him and the oppressive burden inside Draco's chest vanished entirely. _

_The blond Slytherin made another snort-like sound, giving his brother a mysterious half smirk. "How do you do that?"_

_Furrowing his brows, Blaise faked confusion. "Do what?" He asked, already grinning from ear to ear._

_Rolling dramatically his eyes, Draco shook his head. "Forget it."_

"_Why can't you just see that what you've been looking for all this time has been right there in front of your eyes?" Blaise said to himself, consciously aware that Draco was listening._

_They stared at each other__ for a long beat and this time Blaise wondered what exactly was going on in Draco's head because the blonde's facial features were completely unreadable._

"_You said today you'd take me out to celebrate my birthday. It the offer still on?" Blaise inquired, breaking the sudden tension in the air. _

"_Yes, of course. I've made reservations at that snobbish Italian restaurant you like so much..." Draco started absentmindly but then he stopped himself for an intake of much needed air. "Look, I haven't bought you a birthday present yet because this year isn't like the rest. You're eighteen now and I wanted to give you a gift that would be meaningful with your becoming of age." _

_The blond Slytherin then ducked his head down and stared at the ring that fit his little finger. "__I'm very fond of this ring. It bears a strong sentimental value. My grandfather gave it to me shortly after I was born. He died when I was two years old so I never get to know the man that much but my mother loved him dearly. She'd lost her own father when she was an infant and she told me that he'd been always a kind, loving father figure to her…so opposite to his son Lucius. That was enough for me to cherish his memory too. I've used it as pendant until it finally fit my finger. You've told me on several occasions that you'd like to try it on. I'd like to give this ring to you..." _

_In one quick motion __Blaise lifted Draco's hand with both of his own and started sucking the blonde's little finger to the root. Curling his warm tongue around Draco's finger, he started pushing – painfully slowly - the ring up to the tip of the finger. Blaise used his mouth and his tongue to jerk off Draco's finger the way he wanted to do with the blonde's manhood. __Once the ring finally came off, Blaise's mouth made a subtle "pop" sound. _

_A look of worry –and even fear - stamped Draco's features as he stood petrified like a statue._

_After inspecting the jewel closely in his hand, Blaise extended his open palm towards Draco. "Would you put it on my finger?" _

_Reading the blonde's confusion the other explained, smiling sadly. "I want you to want to give it to me, but if you don't then it'd be pointless for me to wear it. Here, you can have it back." _

_But Draco refused. "This is the Masonry Insignia of the Malfoy's Clan… our Secret Coat of Arms: The Black Sun, the symbol of spiritual illumination and infinite wisdom. These rings are given only to the first born male of every new generation by the oldest member of the Clan. Since we're the last living male members of our Clan I'd do the honors and give this ring to you. You're my elder brother, the first born male of our generation. You're the one who's entitled to use this ring: you're the righteous owner." _

_Grabbing the small jewel between his fingers, Draco held it high over his head, murmured some words that sounded like an ancient chant or blessing, made a ceremonial bow in front of Blaise and placed the ring on the little finger of his brother's right hand._

_While witnessing how exquisitely graceful Draco's motions were and how serious and determined the blond looked when performing them Blaise felt his heart pounding heavily on his chest. His cheeks were burning and he couldn't quite feel his face, there was a great chance he was smiling utterly stupid …and probably even drooling. _

"_I do. I mean, thank you." Blaise teased and kissed the ring devotedly, grinning from ear to ear._

_Without giving Draco time to react Blaise wrapped an arm around the blonde's slim waist and hurled him up, carrying him bridal-style._

"_Put me down, you brute!" Draco spitted angrily boiling with rage, sending fists into the air. _

"_We'll make it faster to the restaurant this way." Blaise replied before emptying his lungs euphorically with a happy birthday grin plastered all over his face. "TONIGHT'S BOYS NIGHT OUT!" _

Back at himself, Blaise waved his little finger and replied to his mother. "Draco wanted to erase the inscriptions and monogram my name instead but I refused. I prefer to keep it just the way it is, with his name encircling my finger, as sign of belonging." He finished with a hopelessly dreamy look.

"Talking about finishing your studies…" Clarissa started, coughing uncomfortably, changing abruptly the subject but paused and pulled Blaise's chair far from the table, taking sit on his son's lap. "Your diploma arrived a couple of weeks ago, congratulations: you've passed with honors."

"It arrived _here_?" Pressing his back on the chair's rest, the Slytherin looked momentarily confused. "Guess they've must misspelled my surname again: I'm a Malfoy."

Apparating the parchment on the table, next to Blaise's plate, her chin quivered a little. "You've made it clear that you're no longer a Zabini." Signaling with her wand the gold letters written on the diploma, she hissed. "Here it clearly reads: Blaise Malfoy."

Blaise grabbed his mother by her slim waist and lifted her up from his lap. "That's not only my name, it's who I am."

Clarissa looked over at her son, her dark green eyes filled then with tears. "But I'm still your mother! Nothing would ever take that right away from me!"

"I don't believe you've ever understood the meaning of that word." Stretching his long legs, the Slytherin crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head to a side. "But I'd always be my father's son and that's why I've agreed to come to this dinner: to talk about my inheritance."

"Of course…" She hugged her tears with the back of her hand. "I wouldn't dare to contradict your father's last wish."

Clarissa produced a sealed letter and a small key – that belonged to one of Gringotts Bank Vaults - from out of a cabinet's drawer on the end of the dining-room and handled them over to Blaise. "This makes you wealthier than Draco. What are you planning on doing now that you've finished school and own a disgustingly huge amount of money?"

Pocketing the letter and key inside his jacket, Blaise confessed. "I'd spoil the one I love."

"What about Draco's future?" Clarissa asked, the tone in her voice denoted that she was indeed curious. "What would he do now that he'd graduated as well… besides being a parent." She finished, snorting somewhat bitterly.

Blaise narrowed his pitch-black eyes, seeing his mother from his half-shut eyelids. "He'd been offered the post of Minister of Magic, but he refused."

She then started pacing around Blaise, cupping with one hand her chin in a pensive manner. "Why would he turn down such position? He'd got all the qualities to lead. It'd grant him power, recognition, respect..."

Clearing his throat loudly, the Slytherin sneered knowingly. "I do believe he'd change his mind though."

He then closed briefly his eyes, Scorpius' words resounded past his ears:

"_The death of Voldemort and defeat of the majority of his followers only raised the anger of those who survived and swore vengeance. With the Elder Wand my father's magic has no match. He's the only one who can grant the balance and restore the order everybody is so desperate to find in this world."_

"It's just a question of time I guess. If he happens to accept the post then I'd find my place in the Ministry as well to be close to him: I'd become an Auror." Blaise finished, glancing sideways at his mother.

Clarissa then started talking but Blaise registered no intelligible words, just a whisper… like a breeze.

"_Odd vibe..."_ He said to himself and spun violently his head to a side, rushing towards the end of the hall.

"Blaise, son… what's the matter?!" His mother's agitated voice came from behind him, trying to caught up with his lighting-fast speed.

Standing in front of the Zabini Mason library's fireplace – already burning with vivid green flames - Blaise turned to face his mother one last time. "Draco is in danger!" And with that he disappeared from Clarissa's restless eyes.

The second he stepped outside the fireplace of the Chateau, Blaise's foot almost tripped over a piece of what was formerly a window's vitraux. Fragments of broken glass, torn burned books and wood splinters carpeted the Chateau's library floor.

An explosion was heard from the adjoining room – Draco's Study – and a massive fireball came from the door that connected both rooms turning everything into chaos. The foundations of the library's floor weakened and collapsed onto the lower level of the house and then part of the walls followed like a domino effect.

Blaise ran as fast as he could – almost diving into the air - through the vision obscuring smoke of the flames that soon caught on fire the whole place.

"Draco?! Where are you?!" He coughed and kept calling out until the coughs became painful and raspy.

Draco's strangled yelp came from somewhere close yet far from Blaise's reach for the heavy gray smoke clouds that polluted the air made almost impossible to see through them.

Blaise launched himself fearlessly – and blindly – towards the spot he heard Draco but halted on his tracks once he got sight of the blonde's silhouette laying down with his back against the floor.

Luna - who was top of him – swinged a fist at Draco's face but missed when the blond Slytherin made a lighting-fast move and slide himself from under her, jumping to his feet. But she caught up with him and threw him against the wall.

"I know you're _stressed_, princess_._ Now that the baby's due any time things are getting worse because it builds up more anxiety inside you and you feel like you're losing it, but I don't think this would take the pressure off." Reaching out, Draco took one of her tight fists gently and brought it to his bruised face. "Completely honesty is not always kind…but I was hoping some other sort of physical roughness. If you want to get rid of the tension why don't we finish this in our bedroom?" He smirked flirtatiously yet painfully for his swollen lip started to bleed.

Shouting her lungs out, Luna spitted right at Draco. "I've already told you not to push me to have sex! I not only despise my body but I'm not moved by you anymore! I don't want you!"

The Slytherin's face went whiter, his heart passed from a violent beating rhythm to a flat line as he missed three consecutive beats. Once his broken heart reconstructed by itself it was a fraction of what once had, too many shattered parts refused to be reassembled again.

Trailing briefly the back of his hand over her moistened cheeks, Draco leaned closer, speaking inches away from her mouth. "I've kept my word. I've refrained myself these last seven months ever since we came back from Hogwarts because that's what you've asked me to and I didn't want to force you to do anything you didn't feel comfortable with. You're beautiful and now that you're pregnant you're even more desirable to me. I want you and that exquisitely sexy belly of yours turns me on. Your body might have experienced many changes but my feelings for you remain the same: I'm in love with you."

Tears blinded her eyes; she shook her head twice and started rearranging the oversized pullover she was wearing over her nightdress. "You should have let me stay at my father's until the baby was born." Drying the tears with the back of her hand, she continued with a shaky voice. "Being around you…makes things even worse…I can't think clearly…"

"You're enduring a most difficult pregnancy and I know everything you've sacrificed for our baby to make it to this day. You're putting up with it because you love Scorpius as much as I do and I thank you for that, princess." Pausing to draw a sound breath, he cupped her chin and lifted her head to meet his mismatched eyes. "I've done _everything _you've asked but you're _impossible _to please. It's scary how much you remind me of Lucius when you act like this. He raised me on a steady diet of critiques and evaluations and always blamed me for not trying hard enough, for not doing anything right, for not acting as expected. Luna, what is exactly that I'm failing at?" He managed to ask before his voice faded out completely.

Luna pushed away from him and ducked her head, tears running in a hot trail down the sides of her angelic face. "Not everything revolves around _you_, Draco!"

"Yet everything's _my _fault, isn't it?!" Anger knotted his throat and the muscles of his face, his voice came painfully dry. "Your bad days, the ones I'm required to sympathize and compensate for every single one of my past faults, including having impregnated you with my seed is outnumbering your good days!"

Luna's voice was thick with disgust. "Since the moment you've cast that _charm_ on me whenever I go to bed I just can't have a sound sleep anymore. I can't dream and I woke up at night because I feel restless and that leave me exhausted the next day! I wanted to finish my studies earlier too, but I can't concentrate or manage to read a book without feeling my head is about to explode. I can't relax either when I paint! I don't find that hobby enjoyable anymore! I feel so _angry_ and so _pissed _with myself! I'm no longer capable of following a normal routine. Everything is so confused inside my head and my magic… I can no longer control it either!"

Draco's voice was coming undone with infuriated, ragged pants. "All I did was to perform a permanent mirroring charm to spare you from having nightmares in the middle of the night in which you woke up screaming with raw panic. Since that night, seven months ago, I'm the one who's been having those nightmares instead of you! And don't you _dare_ blame me for not being able to have a _sound_ sleep, you can at least rest somehow, I can't sleep at all! The times I get some rest are when I pass out after spending countless sleepless nights!"

"You mean when you pass out after getting loaded with alcohol!" She accused and started throwing onto the floor the bottles of the mini bar behind her. "You're going to drown in your own puke one of these days!"

"I bet you're hoping that day to come soon, aren't you?!" Getting exasperated, Draco stabbed a finger in the air, pointing it right into Luna's face. "You wanted privacy, I gave you privacy, but you've went too far. You spent all day in bed locked up in your bedroom and hardly leave those four walls! You even made the house elves brought food to your room to avoid sharing meals with me! You're completely avoiding me, making me feel like I don't exist!"

Narrowing her amethyst blue eyes with fury, she replied. "Love means respecting someone else's rights and boundaries! I want you to stop controlling my life, that's what I want! I want you to leave me be, you're suffocating me! I can't stand being around anyone! Constantly talking does not exactly build a communication but the problem is that you're a man who _loves_ the sound of his own voice, am I right?!"

Screaming on top of her ear-piercing shouts, Draco shot back as irately as her. "No! You're _wrong_! I'm sick and tired of hearing myself talking alone, waiting for you to say something in return…for a _change!_ But lately talking to you_ is_ monologuing because you don't have the _decency_ to show not a single hint of interest!" The explosive intensity of his voice started to drop, he felt the tears burning on his eyes but he squeezed them away. "All I wanted was for you to open up to me more, to show me that you care about me! All I ever wanted was to share things with together and trust in each other! That's the foundation of a relationship! That's what intimacy is!"

The Slytherin wrestled her into a pressure point hold, but Luna didn't budge and pulled herself back.

She then started talking as if she was a runaway train, unable to stop. "I'm really pissed that you said that to me! You're accusing _me_ of not trusting _you_?! You've kept more secrets from me than I've ever kept from you! Everytime I want to discuss one of our many issues you refuse to give me a direct answer or change abruptly the subject! You've refused to tell me about how exactly you've lost your memory, a _selective_ memory loss I dare say, because you remember everything about everyone else except me! I bet you remember perfectly well the things you've shared with Alecto and when you've kissed Daphne and Fleur but you can't remember anything we've shared together! I'm not talking about remembering trivial things like what's my favorite flower or food or book or song. You've completely forgot the day you've met me, our fist kiss, the night we've got married…you couldn't even remember when my birthday was! You've got to ask my father about it behind my back because you didn't want me to know! But you remember correctly when Blaise's birthday is along with all the things he likes and dislikes. You even recall the exact number of quaffles he scored at every single Quidditch game he played as chaser! I'm the one who feels like I'm living with a complete stranger! You've underestimated me all this time, Draco! STOP TREATING ME AS IF I WERE STUPID!"

Shocked anger widened Draco's mismatched eyes. "Never did such thing! Luna, I've suffered all kinds of pain to show you that there's _nothing _I wouldn't do for you! I've made all kind of sacrifices too! I've lost more than my memories! I've lost myself in the process and this is what's left of me now! I know it's not much, but that's exactly what I've been reduced to because of you! Everything I've done, I DID IT FOR YOU!"

Curling her hands in tight balls, she spitted out. "If I'm the culprit and I've turn your life in a complete mess…if you can't even remember who I am or what you feel about me…then why would you want me to stay around?! Why won't you let me go?!"

Draco grabbed Luna's head carefully between his shacking hands; his voice came completely undone. "Because I'm in love with you! I can't live without you!"

Luna pulled away angrily and took a couple of steps back. "No. You refuse to let me go because you are afraid of losing power and of having people look down on you if your wife happens to leave you."

"I don't care what people might say, I just don't want you to leave. Forget the mistakes of the past we've got a future ahead of us, we can build new memories together." Draco's voice bubbled with a heart-breaking sadness. Swallowing hard he finished the sentence with a painful hiss. "We're going to be parents."

"I do love our son but I won't live a complete lie to keep appearances. Even if we're living under the same roof we're living in two complete different worlds. There is no _us! _Starting by the fact that here is no real communication between us! Do you firmly believe this is what Scorpius deserves?" But Luna's angst trimmed her throat, preventing her from saying another word.

Leveling his blood-shot eyes up to her amethyst blue gems, Draco replied strangely unperturbed. "Our son has the right to be raised by his father and his mother, that's what he deserves and that's exactly what he's going to get." His tone was a silky threat.

The crystal vases and porcelain figurines from the cabinets then started to shatter, the paintings fell from the walls and a deafening sound erupted from under the floor.

Draco's eyes widen in panic. "Luna, STOP! Those belonged to my mother! They were her favorite possessions!"

Narrowing her amethyst blue eyes, she smirked coldly. "I see, you do remember that too…but you can't remember when was the first time I've confessed that I loved you, can you?!"

Draco's features hardened with controlled anger. "I guess I'd never be able to please you."

Grabbing her gently yet firmly by the shoulders, Draco forced her down onto a couch.

"You're hurting me!" She said with an agonized cry and tilted her head to the side.

His hands slid up to cup her face, tilting it so she had no recourse but to look at him.

"I'm being extremely careful not to." Draco confessed, tracing outline of her mouth with the edge of his thumb.

As fear and some other powerful feelings came to haunt her, Luna stamped one foot on his stomach and lunged Draco onto the air.

"Don't you dare to touch me! I don't know who you are anymore…you're not my husband!" She cried out, sobbing.

Draco's back smashed against the wall before hitting the floor and a crystal display cabinet fell on top of him.

"You mad cow! What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" Blaise spitted out irately after casting a stunning spell that sent Luna laying flat over the couch.

Clasping an arm across the place on his ribs where Luna had kicked him, Draco struggled to pick himself up from the floor - as he pulled out a piece of shattered glass that pierced through one of his thighs and a piece of broken wood that went right through one side of his shoulder – and immediately after that he threw himself over Blaise when a killing curse passed by mere inches from where the jet black haired Slytherin was standing.

"But I've just _stunned _her! How could she recover so fast?!" Blaise spun his head towards Luna's direction, rage and confusion in his pitch-black eyes. "For fuck sakes! That treacherous bitch had just tried to _kill_ me!?"

Despite the thick and polluted air was trimming considerably his vision field - Draco couldn't differ what was past his nose - that didn't stop him from feeling where his brother's hands were lingering.

"Blaise!" The blond scolded with a whip-lash shout.

"What?!" The other mimicked the blonde's pissed-off look, but unlike Draco's reddish anger Blaise was blushing for other reasons.

At the sound of Draco's annoyed humming, Blaise accused. "Hey! Who threw himself over who? You might be feather-weight but the impact almost made me spit my lungs out! And why do you have your hands knitted tightly behind my neck?!"

"To support and secure where the spine connects to the base of the skull in case you made a risky movement during the fall and to prevent your head from hitting the floor!" Draco spitted with a lecturing tone.

"That's completely unnecessary! I know perfectly well to ease a fall, you trained me yourself!" Blaise reminded the blond harshly.

"Look, don't make me regret pulling you out of the way from that curse!" Draco roared, getting exasperated.

"I know you love to be on top of things and assume control of everything but don't get all exited here or too comfy either! I just wanted to make sure you were still in one piece, okay!?" Blaise excused himself, also shouting, removing reluctantly his hands from the blonde's butt.

"Draco, are you trembling?" Amusement warmed Blaise's voice.

After a constricted intake of air Draco confessed. "For a second there I thought I wasn't going to make it on time."

"Awww, my hero!" Blaise celebrated happily crushing Draco with a bear hug – pressing the blonde's body hermetically against him - and rolled on the floor, sheltering both behind a desk.

The second Draco could squeeze himself free from the choke-hold embrace he clamped a palm over one of Blaise's shoulders. "Dammit, you brute!"

After taking sit on the floor, Blaise started brushing the fabric of his suit that – thanks to its magical properties - showed not a single scratch or stain despite the massive destruction around him and asked. "Draco, what the fuck is going on with that nutcase? She's out of control! Weren't we supposed to be spared of women's emotional monthly rants once they're knocked up or was that just an excuse these bitches invented to back themselves up when pissing men off for no reason?!"

Draco swallowed painfully. "It's not her fault. I did this to her, she's reacting to the Ghoul's powers in her blood…that's what making her do this." He then peeked outside briefly and when he turned to look at Blaise his mood changed completely, he was smirking proudly. "The training I've gave her finally reap fruit, now she's perfectly capable to defend herself. She's wonderful, isn't she?"

"Mate, listen to yourself, have you completely lost your mind?!" Once the air started to clear and Blaise's eyes rested on his brother's face he literally panicked. "HOLY FUCKING SHIT!"

Draco's violated throat featured both dark-bluish bruises and cuts. His pale lips and cheeks were swollen and bleeding. His white shirt was torn in shreds, revealing not only deep slashing cuts but also serious burnings on his chest and upper arms.

Grabbing Draco by the collar of this shirt, Blaise pulled him closer. "From what I've witnessed so far you're getting beaten the shit out and she doesn't have a single scratch on her! Why are you're letting that bitch do this to you? Has she hit you _that_ hard that you'd barely have your brain functional?!"

After rolling his eyes dramatically, Draco let go a snort-like sound. "No-one understands Luna's sense of humor like I do."

"Bollocks!" They were almost nose-to-nose. Sniffing him hard, Blaise shot back with a hateful frown. "Fuck, you're completely wasted!"

Draco stared at him in silence for a long moment until the sight of his mismatched eyes came into focus and smirked somewhat stupidly. "Nah…ah..."

"Sober up! NOW!" Blaise clamped his teeth hard and looked at Draco, his pitch-black eyes were filled with anguished fury.

Draco then looked around, plotting with a crazy face, and got up.

"Stay here, don't interfere." He ordered to Blaise and - with wand in hand - the blond Slytherin stormed from behind the desk.

"Like Hell I'm leaving you alone!" Without wasting another second, Blaise came out from his hiding place but another explosion – that sent fire balls, glass and wood splinters into the air – pulled him sideways right though a window.

The adrenaline literally burned through Blaise's veins, his eyes fluttered open and in one quick motion he was back in his feet. As the polluted air cleared, Blaise's eyes opened wide as saucers. Draco's body was again laying with his back onto the floor, but this time Luna was standing next to him holding a forty inches long iron poker – the type used to keep alive the burning coals from a fireplace - one poker had already sunk on the floor, stabbing all the way through Draco's right forearm, nailing it onto the floor. Draco had no strength to hold his wand, and once it fell from his loosen grip, it rolled on the floor.

"HEY YOU, DYSFUNCTIONAL PMS!" Blaise roared making his presence known.

Without knowing what had hit her, Luna dropped the grip of the poker and was soon restrained with countless rounds of thick ropes from head to toe by what seemed to be a most effective restraining spell Blaise could procure but then – as if it wasn't enough – the jet black haired Slytherin performed a row of consecutive stunning spells that forced her to fall limp onto the floor.

"That was just a warming-up, you _frigid cunt_, now get yourself ready to be _arse-fucked_! Draco should have done that a long time ago, that'd probably have cooled off your constant bitching!" He sentenced with a vengeful tone standing scarce feet from where she was laying on the floor.

Getting desperate Draco screamed, spitting blood as he did so. "NO! DON'T HURT HER!"

But that didn't stop Blaise from casting a hex on her that slowly drained the air of her lungs and prevented her from inhaling again properly.

Even if the dark magic hex was one of the most powerful ones it only incapacitated – practically dominated - the victim, immersing the prey into a state of temporal submission due to the light-headiness daze caused by the shortage of oxygen. Luna's eyes fluttered open, she looked like she was about to pass out.

Pulling hard from her fringe, Blaise lifted her head inches from the floor and fixed his enraged pitch-black eyes on her amethyst blue gems. "Wake up, you bitch! I want you to be conscious for what's coming next. I've warned you once: make Draco suffer… I'd become your worst nightmare ever!"

She mumbled something under the rope that has covering her mouth.

Blaise then started tracing his wand up and down her cheeks until he rested the tip of it over her forehead. "You're already a lost case. I don't think it'd matter much if I cook your brain a little more."

"Brother, think about Scorpius." A weak pleading came from Draco's direction.

"ACT LIKE A MAN FOR A CHANGE, WILL YOU?!" Blaise snapped out completely. "Are you going to let this nutcase get away with what she'd done?! For fuck sakes, she tried to kill us both! This bitch is going to pay …the _hard _way! I'm going to fry every single brain cell left in her and make her squeal like a pig in the process! But I swear upon my father's memory that it won't affect the baby in the least, so don't sweat!"

Draco lifted his left arm – his stabbed right arm had been immobilized with the poker - picked up his wand and waved it dizzily towards Blaise.

"Expelliarmus!" After casting the disarming spell, Draco's arm went limp on the floor.

Visibly pissed but also resented, Blaise was about to complain but the moment he turned to look at Draco, he felt a stinging hot puncture on the back of his head. When he faced Luna a second time, Blaise saw that she'd used the iron poker to hit him from behind. Blood started pouring from the open wound on the back of his skull, Blaise couldn't move. His vision was coming-and-going as he tried to regain control of his senses.

Fixing her amethyst blue eyes on her husband, Luna got up slowly, the ropes of the binding spell were torn in shreds on the floor.

Staring at Luna without blinking, Draco encouraged with a creepy, torn voice. "I dare you to do it, _sweetheart_. I need to know how far you are willing to go. Go ahead. Give me the best you've got."

Despite Draco's voice sounded defiant, there was another heavy emotion bubbling on the surface, it wasn't fear or anger…it was resignation and he was weary, the kind of weariness one reaches when emotions dry you up to nothing and you're faced with the harsh reality. He knew what was coming.

Luna closed her eyes; she felt the tears leaking from beneath her closed eyelids. "Draco, I can't live like this anymore: I'm leaving you."

After hearing Luna's words Draco started laughing so hard he could barely breathe. He looked completely unbalanced.

"Were you under the impression that marriage was supposed to make your life less complicated?! NO!" The Slytherin paused and looked over at Luna, panting. His mismatched eyes were slightly unfocused. "It's torture and pain and sacrifice! It's like walking on fake ground, upside down, chocking…that's how marriage life feels like and our case isn't the exception!"

Draco's words hammered inside Luna's heart arousing a defensive anger and other more powerful feeling…rage.

"It's over, OVER!" She yelped, hauling the poker in the air.

"No, this is just the beginning." Draco's facial features hardened, pain and sorrow showed in the glittering depths of his mismatched eyes. "You've just awoken your dark side, _sweetheart_. It was a matter of time. Sooner or later it happens to us all because it's not in our _blood_ but in our _nature_. Let me explain what true darkness is: it's our human side. It's the side that makes decisions out of emotions, that's the enemy of us all. Passion and desire are what bring to light the darker elements of man's nature for they're inherent in everyone, like a germ. That's why love hurts inside our hearts and desire burns our bodies that much. Emotions are diseases meant to destroy our sanity. So the more intense the emotion, the darker your heart would grow and the less control over yourself you'll get. That's why I know that you love me in spite of what your eyes reflect. YOU LOVE ME AS MUCH AS I LOVE YOU!"

Draco's expression revealed a torment that twisted the muscles of her stomach into a painful ball of knotted fear. Luna's features paled as consternation mingled with disbelief, then magnified into a sense of dread.

Desperation fractured her voice. "Stop confusing me!"

"Luna, you and me, we are the same. You are no longer in control of our actions when it comes to me, neither am I. The monster in you is fed by me and it won't stop until you destroy it. If you want to leave me then all you've got to do is kill me because I refuse to let you move on without me. If you don't stop me now I'll chase after you and you know I'll find you, I'd _always_ find you!" Draco then snapped completely, emptying his lungs out with a heartbreaking cry. "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! KILL ME! END IT NOW!"

Everything around Blaise then started to fade – he was slowly losing conscience – but before blacking out he saw a strange bluish-turquoise incorporeal halo of light coming from out Draco's right eye slowly ascending towards the ceiling before a blinding light and a blasting sound resounded past those walls setting in flames and destroying everything around and he got sunk into an endless pitch-black darkness.

lllllllllllllllllllll End of Blaise's Flashback lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

"By the time I woke up, both of them were gone and the place was a slaughter house: Draco's blood was spread all over the floor. I've search everywhere for my brother until I've ended up here, at St. Mungo's. I should have known that my restlessness wasn't because I had to endure that dinner with my mother. I should have paid more attention to the signs." Blaise's voice was tense but denoted exhaustion.

The Auror finished writing on the parchment and lifted his gaze, pushing up again his spectacles with one finger, before asking. "Mr. Malfoy, what made you come to the conclusion that your brother's life was in danger?"

"For as long as I can remember I've experienced a series of extrasensory perceptions that made me feel as if I were in two complete different places at the same time. Once I grew up I've found out that the imprints of those unexplained manifestations were because I was somehow synchronized with Draco. The channeling becomes more intense and clear inside me when threat is looming close to my brother." His words came between big breaths, like trying to talk immersed in a deep, strong emotion.

The Auror leaned against the chair's rest, taking all in and finally nodded slightly his head. "That explains everything then: you and your brother are soul-mates. I must admit it's an extremely unique sensory perception granted by the Lifespan Seals on you two. I've only read about one similar case, recorded in the Top-Classified Ministry files, dated five hundred years ago!"

A somber expression clouded the Slytherin's chuckle. His mouth then closed until his lips were a tight, pale line. _"Even if we were to exchange them again, like when we did before Draco used the Time Turner to save Scorpius, our Lifespan Seals won't last because we're no longer soul-mates. I came back as a different man from the other side of the veil and Draco's near-death experience changed him as well. But that'd only built up inside me the need to have Draco's flesh and mine marked: a visible stigma that would tell the world we're meant for each other... " _

Blaise's course of thinking came to a sudden stop when a stinging puncture coursed through his right wrist. Unconsciously, he started rubbing it nervously it behind the table.

"My brother and I…we are not soul-mates." Blaise confessed as the thought pressed a heavy weight on his chest.

"That's even more fascinating, you've developed an extraordinary ability Mr. Malfoy." Caressing softly his carefully cut bear, the old man then looked seriously at Blaise. "A wizard of your sort is what the Ministry's looking for."

"I appreciate the offering but I'm not sure yet if I'd like to become an Auror." The young Slytherin tossed out boringly.

A smile broke the elder's suddenly solemn mood. "I'm talking about your filling the vacant of Minister of Magic."

Taken completely off-guard Blaise sucked up a sound breath and almost chocked himself.

"Really?" He asked immediately after he refilled his lungs with air and copied the auror's mood, but unlike the old man, Blaise's voice held no amusement whatsoever. "I'm sorry, but I declined. If there's a wizard who's qualified for such post is my brother, not me."

The Auror's good mood dropped from his face. "But he refused and you're his equal: I sincerely hope you'd accept."

"No." Blaise shook his head; he didn't even have to think twice about it. Then an amused smirk started to curl his lips. "But I'd encourage Draco to take the post."

The other laughed shortly. "If you manage to convince your brother to change his mind then it would be _incredible_ good news, Mr. Malfoy."

"_Don't undestestimate me__, old man."_ Blaise turned his face to a side, wondering how to address the auror without letting his sudden dark mood to come to surface. "I will. After all, it's my brother's destiny." He replied with a casual smirk.

Welcoming the young Slytherin's determination, the Auror ducked his head to the transcripted testimony and got back to business. "Are you willing to submit the contents of your memory to the authorities?"

The young Slytherin rubbed his forehead tiredly before nodding. "I'm willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that woman doesn't come near my brother _ever_ again. She's the death of him."

Handling over a small crystal vial, the elder wizard soothed. "Rest assured that we'll do our job efficiently."

Inspecting the vial carefully, Blaise confessed out loud. "If my brother hadn't stopped me, I would have ended up damaging her brain beyond repair."

Making a face, the Auror prompted his next words. "Mr. Malfoy, I'm here to collect _facts_ not verbal _threats_ that anyone facing a traumatic experience would have thrown at the criminal who not only wanted to murder a family member but also attempted against one's life."

"I appreciate your understanding." Blaise then pointed with his wand at the side of his temple and extracted slowly the silverish white-blue thread of memory the auror needed: from the moment he stepped outside the fireplace of the Chateau's library until he passed out.

Pocketing the vial inside his robes, the other replied courteously. "And I appreciate your time."

Without removing his eyes from the man, Blaise asked darkly serious. "Would that be evidence enough to file a petition for divorce?"

"Yes, and also for requesting a restraining order, but I'd have to be your brother the one willing to do so." He then handled the parchment with the recorded testimony for Blaise to sign.

Blaise pushed errant thoughts back into the recesses of his mind and with fast gracious flicks of his wand he stamped his signature on the document and retrieved it to the auror.

"I understand but my brother has been traumatized and abused by this woman ever since they got married. She has been completely intolerant of her husband's needs and feelings. She constantly looked down and criticized him to the point of turning him into an absolute mess. My brother's judgment had eroded to the point where he finds difficult to make decisions when it comes to her. He'd most probably start blaming or even punish himself for her actions. All this time she'd been aware of her actions, so that rules out the fact that she's mentally unstable. I dare say Luna developed some narcissistic personality disorder, she perfectly knew when and where to lose her temper. That night I wasn't supposed to return home until very late in the evening. She took advantage of it knowing that Draco would never dare to stand up against her or defend himself, fearing by doing so he might end up hurting her or the baby, and I was nowhere near to stop her either." The Slytherin paused as another realization struck inside his mind. "I'm his legal guardian. Doesn't that confer me the right to act in his best interest and assume responsibility for my brother?"

Blaise already knew the answer, but playing naïve while making others comfortable and at ease around him – gaining their confidence in the meantime - was something the Slytherin mastered to perfection.

"Yes, of course. You're entitled to act in his behalf." The elder wizard then rolled carefully the signed statement, tied a black and yellow ribbon around it and sealed the ends with his magic wax seal ring, the one that carried the Ministry's logo. "But your brother's signature would still be required."

Blaise narrowed his eyes as his thoughts went deeper, denoting a dangerously busy mind. He then smirked confidently. "Would you please owl me the forms to start with both the divorce and restraining processes? I don't want Luna Lovegood soil my family's reputation and good name once she's sentenced to Azkaban for what she'd done to my brother."

The Auror accented with his head. "I'll see to it."

"Thank you." Blaise then flashed a most studied kind smile._ "You'd better have them ready by the next hour."_

Momentarily taken aback by the Slytherin's display of gratitude, the Auror coughed nervously.

"No need to thank me, Mr. Malfoy, it's my job. It's a distinct honor and privilege to be at your service. As soon as I return to the Ministry, I'll owl you the documentation you've requested." He replied humbly.

"_Music to my ears." _Blaise smirked to himself, picked up his jacket and stormed off the small office.

lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

**A/N:**

Did Draco really lose his magic powers?

What does Luna feel about Draco and what motivated her to do what she did to him?

Which are Blaise's next moves?

All those answers – and much, much more - in the next chapter…

**Show that you care by reviewing, thanks!**


	39. Chapter 39

**A/N:**

**HOMOPHOBIC ****& RELIGIOUS FREAKS ARE NOT WELCOMED!!**

**SO GET THE FUCK OUT ****RIGHT NOW BECAUSE I'M AS ZERO TOLERANT AS YOU!!**

…

**Hope those who were asking why Luna acted the way she did with Draco ****would FINALLY get their answers because it's all IN YOUR FACE, OKAY?!**

…

**Yes, I'm in a very dark mood **

**I've brought back too much shit from my past while writing this LOOONG chapter (and plotting the next one) but I've got to purge my inner demons somehow before I die**

…

_**What you're about to read is NOTHING in comparison **__**with the next (AND LAST) two chapters**_

_**YES! ONLY TWO MORE CHAPTERS BEFORE THE FINAL CLOSURE!**_

**CHAPTER ****XL**

_"Behind those eyes lies the truth and grief, behind those beautiful smiles I've seen tragedy  
The flawless skin hides the secrets within, silent forces that secretly ignite your sins  
Fly away, fly away from the torch of blame, they haunt you, the Lucifer's Angels  
Never lived, you never died, your life has been denied, they call you the Lucifer's Angel.  
Beyond these clouds you can hide all your tears  
Beyond this world you'll be safe from their wicked fears  
And in their hearts they fear your demands  
You know their minds won't accept you, they'll never understand."_

_(THE RASMUS – "Lucifer's Angel")_

Blaise got up from the armchair - placed besides Luna's bed - and paced the length of the hospital room standing in front of the only window. He then lifted the edge of the curtain, pulled it open and peeked out: it was too early in the morning, the sun was slowly rising in the horizon.

"Draco would never be the same after the massive damage you've inflicted on him." He said, gritting teeth.

A swirl of sensations jumped through Luna's stomach, she couldn't even swallow, she tried to speak but she didn't trust her voice to work. She also couldn't stop the shame and impotence from burning their way up her face.

"Fourteen broken bones, seventy-four deep-bone cut wounds, six smashed…not broken… but _smashed _ribs and the disrupted function of both his pierced lungs precipited the fatal cardiac failure of his heart…and it gets worse." Blaise's eyes narrowed; anger and murder intent filled those pitch-black gems. "When you've performed the trepanation of his Dark Magic through his right eye you've not only severed beyond repair his optic nerves but also deprived his brain from receiving oxygen properly. Shortly after he arrived with you at the hospital he fell into a coma, during that period of time he was practically brain dead."

Luna had to look away from Blaise as if his eyes burned her. She then closed her eyes shut, feeling a crawling nausea and a headache coming down at her. She knew she was trying too hard but she couldn't show any sign of weakness, she had to hide her emotions.

Blaise sighed out a swear and muffled a sad smirk, Luna's attitude had always amazed him and this wasn't the exception, trouble was he never seemed to get used to it.

"I was expecting you'd react different. I don't know. I was hoping you'd give me some sign that you've regretted what you've done but I guess I'm the crazy one for expecting the impossible." His incredulous tone overwrote his anger.

When Luna replied, her voice held a controlled yet strange tone as if she'd been rehearsing what to say. "Actions cannot be undone, therefore apologies lack of meaning." Pausing for an intake of air she added. "I thank Draco for making me strong enough to be able to defeat him."

"You are indeed insane to believe you could best Draco: he allowed you to do it. Of course he'd never dare to hurt you or the baby." His voice held a dangerously diminishing silkiness. "Hasn't that little head of yours realized that you've become many times worse than whom you've accused all this time Draco to be?_ You_ are the monster!"

Luna paused to play unconsciously with her wedding ring.

Fixing his pitch-black eyes at the clock that hanged over the wall, Blaise grinned darkly. "Take a closer look at that ring while you still can. Soon your life as a Malfoy along with all its rights and privileges would come to an end. Get ready to sign the divorce papers. There's also a restraining order that forbids you to get near Draco _and_ Scorpius once he's born."

Luna started to shake, blood rushed up to her face, her heart squeezed. His words slammed into her as if a wall had fallen on her, once she recovered from the shock, Luna's temper exploded. "What _rights_? I've been living like a prisoner all these months."

"Prisoner?" He inquired half-puzzled, half-mocking. "If Draco insisted on your not leaving the house alone and allowed him or me to escort you wherever you wanted to go out was in order to secure yours and the baby's safety and wellbeing. You were the one who locked herself in her bedroom and refused to get out."

Luna drew in a deep breath to calm her rattled nerves.

"An insufferable selfish bitch of a wife like you never deserved to have such an understanding and caring husband like Draco had been. But you've ran out of luck now that he'd finally opened his eyes to the truth. Soon you'll find out what real imprisonment feels like." His voice was quiet and silky but Luna could sense his anger.

"Let me tell you something Blaise, once I'm out of the picture for good and you'd finally turn over the page…you'd find yourself cornered." She said, there was a building tension behind her words.

Blaise couldn't catch his breath to reply right away but Luna broke the tense silence between them by speaking again.

"You're just buying time pretending you don't know the results of those tests and having Draco in the hospital is just a big façade. The mediwizards never treated the sequels I've inflicted on him and on his magic: you've taken care of everything all by yourself. It was you the one who took the samples from him before and after your _intervention_. The reason why Draco doesn't want you to know those results is because he firmly believes that he'd lost all his magic essence and powers. He's ashamed of himself because he thinks he's a Squib now, a non-magic pure-blood nonetheless…something worse than death for a man like him. And if he refuses to be touched is because he knows that, even if the tests are destroyed, any wizard or witch would notice that there is no trace of magical essence left in him." She paused; an undefined grimace traced her angelical face. "Once the initial bliss of finding out that he can use magic subsides don't expect Draco to rejoice in the least whenhe finds out that you've sacrificed almost all your magic essence in order to save him."

Blaise rubbed his eyes wearily and then ran his hands over his untamed blocks.

Luna's amethyst blue eyes studied the Slytherin's concerned expression carefully. "If there's something Draco hates the most is to _owe_ someone…specially _you_."

"And why is that?" He inquired visible pissed-off, but there was a tint of nervousness beneath it.

"Because you're the only one Draco keeps amassing debts with." Lifting her gaze to meet his eyes, she added with a hiss. "Whatever is that you seek as retribution must be impossible for Draco to grant you."

Unexpectedly Blaise laughed amusingly at her words. "I'd only show him the tests I've made analyze _after_ I saved his life. I've sent the physical tests to the Ministry as evidence in the case I've filed against you." He punctuated, there was a vengeful tone in his voice.

After a sound intake of air, he continued. "Draco doesn't have to know any of this, I'd make him believe that his magic never left him, that it remained untouched even after what you did to him and that he just needs time for it to regain its strength."

Luna hid herself behind a sour smile. "You know as well as I do that it's useless to lie to Draco."

Blaise smirked sourly. "He most probably would get pissed to high Hell with me and might even want to kill me, yes, but I can't imagine a most honorable death. I'm more than willing to suffer any kind of pain for him. There's nothing I wouldn't do for him to return everything he'd given me."

Luna's amethyst blue eyes followed the Slytherin's tall and slender silhouette in silence for a long moment before saying. "There's practically nothing Draco won't do either but he won't take the life of a Malfoy." Then she paused to look at him mockingly. "Well, not as long as he wants to keep what's left of his soul."

Blaise breathed soundly and swallowed down his surprise.

After exchanging piercing looks, she arched one eyebrow. "Draco once told me that the natural balance of the Malfoy's Clan magic power - the ancient pure-blood that runs through yours, his and my veins – can be disrupted when it's tainted by murder. When a Malfoy murders one of his kind he loses his soul. I've lost a great share of mine after what I've done to him last night. Draco lost part of his soul too when his mother died and when she killed Lucius, he didn't stop her from avenging her death. Every time a part of his soul is lost, a portion of his Dark Side fills the missing parts…" By then her face became clammingly pale. "The reason why you and I are still alive is because Draco refuses to lose what's left of his soul. The moment he stop caring about keeping it, you, me, even Scorpius, the three of us would most certainly die…and Draco's Dark Side would take over him completely."

Blaise covered his mouth he tried to swallow the bile in his throat, those words struck inside his head like a thunder:

"_I can't afford to lose more than I've already had."_

He closed his eyes forcefully. _"So what Draco truly meant was that he refused to lose what remains of his soul, not Luna. That's why he encouraged her to kill him, so that she would be the one who lost her soul and not him? That's why he refused to kill me as well when he got the chance? That's why he tried so hard to save Scorpius too?"_

Images and sounds started to swirl inside Blaise's mind:

"_I'd hate to disagree with my dearest mother, but it seems that the Light of my soul-mate is not enough to stop my darkness from rising…or maybe you've returned from the veil as a complete different man and you're no longer who you think you are, not anymore…or maybe…just maybe…I am the one who came back different from my near-death experience! Who knows? Who cares about it anymore as long as we're alive…whatever that means!"_

"_No matter how much you try to shelter yourself behind those impenetrable walls of yours, your heart would always be one of a kind." _

"_Who's the one living in denial now?"_

"_Maybe the dark side of your magic will win you over in the end but your family would always come first. You do care about us. Even after letting you down so many times you'd never give up on us." _

"_Don't fool yourself Blaise."_

Blaise shook his head in denial, holding back the tears from surfacing. _"Draco's soul got split five times already: when Narcissa died, then when Luna died, when I died, when Lucius was murdered and when Scorpius gave his life to save him. Even if he could retrieved that one last portion of his soul when he turned back time and saved his son, Draco is not the same anymore because he'd lost great part of himself. I'm not the same either, when Draco saved my life he did restore my soul completely but I brought something extra with me: the magic and knowledge I've gained from the other side of the veil. That's the reason why Draco and I are no longer soul-mates: he gave away something, I gained something…but we both lose in equal shares."_

Luna cleared her throat, stared boldly at him and asked. "Do you firmly believe that Draco is capable of loving someone selflessly?"

"Of course he is!" The Slytherin spitted out firmly, getting angrier with her. "_You_ are the one who can't love anyone but herself!"

Luna closed her eyes shut feeling the burn of the tears and found herself immersed in a painful memory:

_She was lying on the bed, Lucius was on top of her. He then leaned down and brushed his fingers over her closed eyelids, the touch sent an unpleasant electric wave that short-circuited __her orbs. Pressing his body against her, the elder Slytherin caressed her moistened cheeks with the back of his hand. _

"_Do you wonder why your eyes sore that much?" He asked without expecting an answer. "That's because I've already set things in motion, it will only take Draco to look into your eyes to be free from your Seal along with every bond that you two shared until now. I know your love for my son is true and that's exactly why I've cast this Hex on your eyes. Once you confess your true feelings for him, the moment you tell him that you love him, your eyes would reflect the opposite…it'd appear as if you're lying. When my son asks the question and looks into your eyes, he'd believe you don't love him. This Hex I've cast on you would only disappear the day you die or stop loving my son…whatever happens first." _

"_NO!" But Luna's chocking cry was hushed when Lucius crushed his lips over her mouth._

_After biting hard the man's tongue - and despite having her body partially numbed by the residual effects of a stunning spell - Luna tried with all her might to push Lucius away and roll over the mattress when the man swinged a fist at her that send her flying onto the floor. _

_Dark spots started to fill her vision moments after Lucius' long fingers ringed her neck with unyielding strength. By the time she woke up, she found herself sit on the floor, her back resting against the wall. She was panting hard, her neck was sore and she had a slight light-headness. _

_The door of Lucius bedroom's blasted open and a group of Death Eaters come into view. "We heard strange noises. Is everything okay, Sir?" _

_Lucius picked himself slowly from the floor and ordered. "Blindfold her and lock her up in the solitary cell!" _

_Luna looked at the scene perplexed; she didn't understand what had happened to Lucius and why the man looked as if he'd been attacked. "I only remember biting him, did I punch him too?" She wondered, unable to recall those lost minutes. _

Snapping out of her memory, Luna studied Blaise for a long moment, the anger was still there in those piercing pitch-black eyes, but there was so much more hidden behind them, so much suffering, self-sacrifice and endless sadness. She knew those eyes perfectly well: she saw them every time she looked herself in the mirror.

"I know you care about Draco a lot but…" Luna bit her lip; her heart was beating unpleasantly hard. "What is exactly that you feel for him?"

Turning to look at Luna, Blaise replied harshly. "Someone like _you_, who'd never loved, can't possibly understand someone like _me_."

Luna went completely still as a hard knot of dread formed in her stomach, unable to pronounce the words out loud. _"You're in love with Draco." _

She then leaned her head back against the bed's rest, straitening the soft pink maternal coat she was wearing. "Draco wouldn't stand the idea that you've made such final decision for him and he had no say in the matter. I won't say a word but the truth would eventually come to light."

"I certainly don't give a shit if you can keep a secret or not! Do you think I'd allow you to get near Draco again? No way!" Rubbing his forehead between his index finger and thumb - exhaling angrily – he rounded on the matter again. "I wanted to take him back home but in the fragile condition he's in, having Draco in the hospital is the best alternative to procure the restoration of his magic, body and psyche. That's the only reason why he's still here. Because of the different nature of our magic essences the adjustment would be a slow and _extremely_ painful one but knowing the kind of wizard Draco is he'd recover sooner than expected."

"It's amazing that _you_ have survived after what happened. You'd be the one hospitalized on a bed." She said, focusing on Blaise instead of Draco, it was probably better that way, it hurt less that way.

Exhaustion and tension radiated through Blaise: he was a total wreck. His jacket laid forgotten over the armchair, his white shirt was unstuck from his dark blue pant's waistband, one sleeve rolled up to his elbow the other unbuttoned but down. His black tie completely undone, looked more like a loose twisted loop. A hurricane seemed to have stirred his short pitch-black hair in all directions, the whiteness of his eye sockets was red and his shoulders were sagging.

"I was counting on not making it for I perfectly knew what was on stake if I survived." Blaise then tilted his head to the side catching by the corner of the eye his reflection on the window, there was a tragic smirk curling his lips when he added. "But Draco refused to let go of me, even after knowing the consequences and the price he'd got to pay so I could stay alive. He ended up sacrificing more for me than I've ever had for him. I didn't dare to contradict his wish, how could I?"

"You're always doing what Draco orders you to do." Luna shot back with resentment.

"Leaving aside a few exemptions, yes…" He then turned to look at her, a little puzzled but also annoyed. "What do you care anyway?"

Blowing a puff of air to avoid her long strands of dirty blond hair from kept falling over her eyes, Luna bit her lower lip; she looked indeed worried about Blaise. "Draco is tearing you in pieces because you're letting him do it."

Blaise couldn't manage to force the words out and closed his eyes shut for a brief moment.

"Why are you constantly giving him that much control over you?" She sounded curious.

The Slytherin shook his head slightly from side to side, not quite bringing himself to answer right away but then he gave a soft laugh and the tension eased out of his body. "Guess we're both testing each other's limits."

"If it wasn't for you Draco wouldn't have recovered from those mental relapses he used to suffer where he relived the childhood phase he never had." Luna leaned over and whispered. "Losing control is a sign of weakness for him and a tool of power for the rest. You could have profited from it, but you chose not to do it. Why?" Luna's tone was a plea but it was a disturbingly good question.

"And take advantage of his illness?" Blaise pursed his lips tight as contradicted thoughts come racing in his mind. Shaking his head twice, trying to hush those voices, he replied. "Draco offered himself to train with me, side-by-side, every single fucking day of the week during all these months without taking a break or complaining about how badly I sucked until I've finally managed to control and direct my new magic abilities to my advantage. He did it selflessly, because he cares and wishes the best for me. I don't want to think what would have become of me if he hadn't been around. Of course I'd try my best to come up with a permanent solution to suppress those relapses of him. We've always been there for each other."

Luna remained silent for a long minute as his words sank inside her. "You were looking forward to train with him or take the opportunity to display Draco your superiority without making him feel offended or threatened by it? Those training sessions you two shared disguised your need for his acceptance. You wanted to show Draco what you were capable of doing and asked for his help so that he wouldn't feel less because you've became many times more powerful than him."

Blaise pursed his lips into a tight line and refused to provide an answer to that.

His silence only confirmed her suspicions. She then exhaled softly, her voice lowering to a whisper. "Blaise, haven't you stopped to think that now that Draco has most of your powers in him it'd enhance his inborn magic abilities?"

"I'm counting on that." He replied with a matter-of-fact plain tone.

"This could make him…" Luna couldn't finish for she was abruptly interrupted by the Slytherin.

"Unstoppable." He finished the sentence for her.

Luna squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and sighed soundly; panic welled up in her throat.

"Draco also trained me to make the best of my magic and polished my skills. I've used everything I've learnt from him to prevent his dark side from rising. But by doing so it made me lose ground. I know I can't deny what's in my blood, hisblood, but that doesn't mean I'd let get the best of me again."

Snorting vaguely, the Slytherin retorted. "No worries _love. _I've already made reservations for you at a place where you won't harm anyone anymore."

Once she opened her glassy eyes, she hissed. "By restoring Draco's magic his Dark Side could rise again."

The Slytherin let himself drop on the small couch on the corner of the room. "You've forgot that my magic essence is of a complete different nature than Draco's. My intervention had quieted the chaotic magic specter inside him."

She shook her head. "For how long? You'd only made his inner fight tougher!"

"Unlike you, I do trust in Draco. I've got faith in him." He replied, batting his lashes until his tired eyes opened again.

"You're not the only one who has faith in Draco." She couldn't help her raspy tone; her mouth had suddenly become dry. "I knew that by destroying his dark magic the chances were fifty-fifty for him to make it alive."

Blaise shook his head in disgust. "And even knowing that he might probably die, you continued to the bitter end?!"

Luna exhaled the breath she hadn't realized she was holding; she was starting to lose edge and show her emotions, she had to focus again, regain her _bitterness_. "Yes, and now we know that he can't survive without his dark magic because he's not an arbitrator but an executioner. He's not going to save the Wizardry World: he'd sink it in eternal darkness."

A load of negative feelings warred for top place inside Blaise, rage won. Shooting off his sit, he paced the floor and sent a kick on one of the iron foot of the bed where Luna was resting.

"You heartless bitch! You not only wanted to rip Draco away from his Dark Magic, you _did_ want to kill him!!" Blaise sputtered his words, his face was between red, almost purple. "For fuck sakes, sometimes it's so damn easy to hate you! Thanks a lot for making things simpler for me!"

Blaise then delivered more louder and colorful threats with such sincerity that his words and the anger on his face made Luna swallowed hard and every hair of her body stand with fear, her thoughts scattering in so many different directions.

Blaise's murderous glare softened into a vengeful smirk. "The only reason you haven't been transferred to Azkaban yet is because I'm waiting for Scorpius to be born. Try to step outside this room, either from the door or from the window, and you'll get caught inside the series of magic traps I've set specially for you. I know that you can master advanced dark magic jinxes and hexes but you're no threat to me, _love_."

"If I had my wand back, the one you've destroyed, I might stand a chance against you now that you've lost a great share of your magic. I could end up hurting you as bad as Draco." But Luna stopped when he saw Blaise arching one eyebrow as his mouth thinned into a sneer.

"Don't worry, you can't." He prompted with a dark grin.

Luna meant to smile that but then she realized Blaise wasn't kidding.

"I might have lost some things along the way..." He paused to chuckle devilishly before adding. "But it wasn't my magic."

She missed a beat and her mouth felt dry.

"It's true that I've given away almost every spec of my magic essence in order to save Draco and I've practically died in the process but my true source of power is unlimited: my magic regenerates by itself whenever I _kill_. After saving Draco's life I've made a quick stop at the Ministry and visit those who'd been recently sentenced to go to Azkaban for confirmed treason. Let's say they make it to their final destination in record-time." The Slytherin's voice held a coldness that sent shivers down Luna's spine.

"So it's true then, you've died months ago." She swallowed hard, her amethyst blue eyes fixed on Blaise's face without blinking. "That's why your magic is more powerful now, it's not because you're a Malfoy but because Draco brought you back."

"Yes." Leaning forward, he explained. "I've been granted with the eyes of the Key of Truth. I'm a _Justified_ one, a soldier from the underworld sent back to earth to smoke those cursed, bonded, darkened souls and feed them to Hades. The more fuckers I kill, the stronger my magic gets. Why did you think I was chosen to come back? They decided that it was better for me to stay alive and help to fill Hell with cursed souls than stay another minute in the pit and finish every single demon I've came across. I've been gone for less than twelve hours in this world but when you're dead time loses meaning, for me it seemed a long holiday. I had a great time there: it was a lot of fun to crisp those fuckers into sulfur ashes."

"That turns you into Draco's worst enemy. You'd always be the strongest one. Think about all the power you'd get if you were to kill Draco once his Dark Magic is fully restored." She said with a cold soulless smirk, Malfoy's style.

A sick feeling in the pit of his stomach made Blaise swallow hard but his shock came as fast as it went. He then snorted an exasperated breath, not quite the reaction Luna was expecting. "I'm a freelancer_ love_, no-one tells me what to do. I'm the one who chooses who's going down and who remains floating on surface…and right now I see you're slowly sinking."

Rising her stare to meet his eyes, she smiled knowingly. "No matter how hard you and Draco try to deny and fight against it. You can't run away from the true nature or your magic essences: you two are opposites."

"_I most certainly welcome the challenge. Desire is what pushes men to fight. Sex is a battle in which in order to gain you have to be willing to give it all."_ Blaise forced a laugh even as his mind wandered into forbidden territory. "Draco told me once that fate is used by people who'd lost sight of who they are. We're all free to choose who we want to be: I've chosen to be the guardian of Draco's soul. Even in the eyes of the Devil himself Draco is untouchable. Whether in this world or in the after-life, whether I die or stay alive, I'd always watch over him: that's the_ job_ I've chosen and the reason why I exist."

Her sad smile didn't fade from her face. "Good luck with that."

She then lowered her gaze to her belly, rubbing it in large circles and that image sent a stream of contradicted emotions rushing inside Blaise.

Taking sit on the armchair next to her bed, Blaise leaned forward and _tried _to calm himself down. "Look, every family's fucked up…it must be an unwritten law or something. You, me and Draco, we've all lost a parent. You've lost your mother when you were nine and I've lost my father when I was only four. Draco might have enjoyed his mother longer than us for he lost her when he was sixteen but he also saw her die in the crudest way. Growing up with half the support is tough for a child."

Lifting her watery eyes to meet his, Luna nodded.

After a sound, steady sigh, Blaise continued. "Despite Scorpius wasn't included in Draco's plans I know he's going to be a wonderful father. Since the moment he found out that you were pregnant he's been doing everything in his power to provide this child a better, brighter future. He also did his best to make things easier for you as well since it's been a very _delicate _pregnancy from the very start."

She shrugged her shoulders.

Coughing angrily, trying to slow down the rush of adrenaline from pumping through his veins and increase his heart-rate, he tried to phrase his words. But irrationality got the best of Blaise. Whenever the idea of Draco being in mortal peril crossed his mind, panic, despair, fear, pain… all those hurtful negative emotions drown Blaise completely submerging him into showing his worst side ever.

"Haven't you've stopped to think what would become of Scorpius it you'd succeed to kill Draco?!" He roared.

A burning knot formed inside Luna's gut preventing her from replying, squeezed her eyes shut and got immediately transported to another memory:

_She __remained quiet for a long moment. Her eyes were foggy with tears and she was blushing furiously, trembling all over. _

"_Draco, you're drunk. Get your hands off me." She begged defensively, feeling utterly fragile for she knew she'd broke into a million pieces at his feet if Draco continued to hold her against him._

"_Hmmm…" Draco's __lips pursed into a mocking gesture of thoughtfulness. "I don't think so." _

_Luna trembled at the seductive and low tone of his voice as it traveled through her body, making her breath became trapped in her throat. She felt her stomach tighten with nervous tension._

_Draco's eyes grew darker, desperate. __"You certainly keep making things difficult for me but nothing in this life that's worth having comes easy. So keep doing what you're doing, keep denying what you feel for me so that I can set in motion yet another strategy to draw you closer to me."_

_Those words __brought a rush of color to her pale cheeks. __H__er heart raced to an accelerated__beat. She was completely unprepared for the slid of those long fingers of him over her round tummy and his mouth on hers as he took advantage of her shocked surprise to gain entry._

_Draco then started teasing Luna's mouth with his tongue, darting it in and out her mouth, licking her bottom lip, nipping at her soft skin playfully before deepening the breath-taking kiss, melting Luna completely. Without a doubt Draco knew how to kiss and he was incredible good at it for his skills had reduced the poor girl to an incoherent mess in a matter of seconds. _

_Luna opened lazily her amethyst blue eyes and looked at Draco wondering how could he appear so calm and in control when she was literally a mess. Truth was that the Slytherin's need for her blended the edge of physical and emotional level and his kissing was as sensual and as intimate as the act of sex in itself. He wasn't kissing her just to get to the next phase of lovemaking: he was making love to her with his mouth. _

_She felt weightless wrapped in his arms and the smoothing sensation spiraled deep inside her, sending sensual heat and desire running through her veins. In one fluid movement – and without breaking the kiss – Draco tightened the embrace around her body and both sank over a large sofa with her on his lap. _

_Fear took over her and immediately tried to struggle free but failed miserably when he cupped her hand __in his and pressed it over his chest, making her feel the rising drumming sound of his heartbeats. _

_Luna shivered when she felt the warmth of his hand sliding under the oversized wool pullover she was wearing and cupped her breast over her silk nightdress. Draco's lips curled into a sneer when he sensed her heartbeats picking up._

"_I'm not sure I want to do this." She moaned once their lips parted for breath and tilted her head to the side. _

_Removing slowly his hand from her breast Draco caught hold of her chin and tilted it to meet his lustful gaze. "Just say the word, tell me to stop…and I'll stop."_

_He then captured her mouth again in a sensual kiss that invaded and tormented her in equal shares making Luna groan and lose the last bit of control over herself and gave into the heat of the passion. Draco's fingers were as light as feathers, careful enough to hold her safely over his lap but giving her the space and freedom she needed in case she wanted to recoil or get up. _

_It was not until Draco felt Luna's fingers pulling down the zipper of his pants that his eager fingers started a soft massage around her thighs - while lifting slowly her nightdress – and reclined his body, resting his head against the arm of the couch pulling Luna over him. _

_A devilish smirk curled his lips when she pulled down from the waistband of his pants and slide them down to his knees. She blushed a vivid red in unison with Draco's intake of breath when both noticed his painful hard-rock erection tenting his briefs. _

_Out of the blue Draco felt the urges to explain in case Luna chickened out. "It's been seven months and look at you, so incredible beautiful that I…" But he cut himself abruptly – while stifling a ragged moan - when Luna nestled over his lap, spreading her legs to the sides of his hips. _

"_Can we…stay like this…just like this…for a while?" She pleaded in between taking deep breaths; unable put in check her nervous shivering._

_Summoning an inhuman will-power Draco bit his lower lip to stop himself from saying something he'd regret later. He was so close and yet so far. He didn't want to move, didn't think he could stand the slightest friction at that point so he stood still. He then reached out a hand and slid his fingers through her long dirty blond hair, holding her nape as he angled his head and closed his mouth over hers in a chaste kiss. _

"_Anything you want, princess…__" He hissed with a bubbling uneasiness in his voice. _

_Grabbing one of her hands in his, fingers entwirled, he rested her head over his chest as he rubbed with his free hand her swollen tummy in slow circles, that soothing and incentive massage seemed to have awoken the baby._

"_I haven't felt Scorpius moving so eagerly in weeks." Tears started to fill her eyes but she held them back with sheer effort of will. "He only does that when you touch me." _

_Draco said nothing but she could sense his smirk when she felt the brush of his lips to her temple. _

"_Scorpius loves you more than he loves me." Luna blurted out and felt Draco's body tense uncomfortably after hearing her saying those words._

_He was about to say something but she squeezed her eyes shut and smiled nervously. "How can I possibly be jealous of a baby?" _

_The temptation to cry was almost more than she could bear and silent sobs began to shake her frame._

"_Luna, you're the one for me. It's always been you and you only." He confessed while linking with the tip of his tongue around the shell of her ear. _

"_Why me?" She inquired with a thread of voice before lifting her head to meet his gaze. _

"_Because you're always challenging me. When I'm with you I realize that I've got still a lot to learn and I'm more than willing to venture and risk everything in order to become the right kind of man for you." The words escaped his lips before he took possession of her mouth and continued to tease her tongue with his in a sensual slow dance._

"_When will you realize that you don't have to change a bit in order to be the man I want?" She inquired seriously once she broke the kiss again to take in some air._

_Draco inclined his head - his mismatched eyes studying her face for a moment - and smirked darkly. "It's only after I hear from you saying that you want me just the way I am that I'm able to believe it." _

_He then settled his mouth at the edge of her throat, __savoring its softness and warmth as he absorbed the vibration of her moans, tasting and pleasuring her while he explored seductively her skin until she lost her breath._

_When Luna felt Draco's fingers __worming underneath her panties, caressing softly the warmth and spreading the wetness of her skin, she went rigid. Then before Draco knew what was happening she'd broken out of his arms and stood up, panting._

_For a second the Slytherin__ stood still. "Luna?" That's all he could say._

_Refusing to look at him, she turned her back and ordered. "Put your pants on. Now."_

_His feverish arousal made difficult to pull up the zip of his pants, but Draco managed to do it as best as he could and got up, walking towards her._

_When Luna turned to look at her husband, she looked so furious that Draco unconsciously took a step back._

"_I should have given you more time to touch you like that but I could barely wait a second longer." He found himself saying, part of him wanting to understand her reaction, part ashamed when his eyes dropped down to his still present painful erection. _

_With both arms wrapped around herself, Luna started pacing back and forth, looking restless. _

"_Why shouldn't you be able to touch me exactly like that, hmm? I didn't want to wait either. I mean, we were kissing and our bodies...we both wanted it…but…" She stopped and raised her amethyst blue eyes to meet his and he could feel how much she wanted to say something else but she shook her head._

_They stared at each other for a long, silent moment. Draco was so close that the urge to pull her to him, hugged her and kiss her was overwhelming. The look in Luna's eyes said that she wanted it too but Draco didn't want to scare her again so he fought his rising desire with all his might__...for scarce seconds. _

_Draco reached out and took her hand. Luna looked startled for a beat but then her fingers curled around his and lifted it to her tummy._

"_Luna, nothing bad would happen to our baby if you and I make love." He explained with a soft voice as he trailed his long fingers over her swollen stomach. "I'd never dare to do anything that would end up harming you or our son." _

"_I know. It's not because of the baby, it's me. I can't do it. I don't think I can stand to touch you the way I want to. This would never work between us, we both want to be together but we can't." She bit her lip and Draco was startled to see tears gathering in her eyes. _

_He stared at her without blinking, speechless, knowing that Luna was once more shutting him out. The war going on inside her was a painful one to watch. Draco didn't want to force her to let him in but he couldn't remain passive a second longer either. _

"_I love you, and I'm not ever letting you go." He confessed and slid the fingers of one hand through her hair, pulling her close, slipping his other hand around her waist. _

_A strange look passed over Luna's face and by the time Draco could figure it out, it was too late. _

"_YOU CAN'T LOVE ME!" She yelled after producing her wand that cast a stunning spell that sent him flying into the air, stopping flat against the opposite wall. _

_Draco sucked in a sharp breath and pulled himself__ painfully back to his feet. His eyes went unfocused for a second, he shook his head twice. The moment his mismatched eyes looked up Luna pinned him with the most intense stare he'd ever seen. Her amethyst blue eyes were sparkling with fury, stopping Draco cold. _

Luna came to her senses at once when Blaise kicked the armchair and snapped out throwing both fists to the wall, leaving two large craters on the plaster.

"For fuck sakes, have you've got an idea of how much Draco loved you?!" Blaise's voice cracked completely and a blow hit inside his heart when he heard himself saying those words out loud but he recovered immediately for he was talking in past tense.

Luna's smile was forced but it didn't seem to be_ that_ obvious. "I'm glad to hear that."

The Slytherin spun his head abruptly and looked at her in silence. A mixture of skepticism and confusion plastered all over his face.

Seemed that she managed to confuse him, she was giving a perfect performance after all but she felt remotely proud of herself, how could she? But the show had to go on, and who best to hear the speech she'd prepared but Blaise? He'd always been Draco's eyes and ears, it was easier to speak to Blaise rather than Draco…it didn't hurt her that much this way.

"You've said he _loved_ me, so I must suppose Draco doesn't feel that way for me anymore." She exhaled a sigh of relief, as if saying it aloud relieved her of a huge weight, yet her whole body tensed, betraying her but Blaise didn't seem to have repaired on that small fact.

"He doesn't love you, I've confirmed that myself in more than one way." The Slytherin then ducked his head and peered up at her from under his thick lashes. "And don't expect Draco to forgive you either because that won't happen. You two would never get back together."

"Of course not, the life of billions is at stake if we stay together." Luna bit her lip as soon as the words came out.

Blaise's heart missed a beat and his mind whirled through tons of thoughts all at once. "What have you just said?!"

Those words sealed her doom and threatened to reveal everything but it was too late to turn things back, she had to find a way to round the matter and get back on track.

Folding the soft cotton sheets over her swollen stomach, Luna then ducked her head, counting her breath, trying to maintain her immutable face. "All I wanted was to destroy his Dark Side, preventing it from rising so that Draco wouldn't need me anymore, so that he would stop making me his one hope for a normal life."

"You're kidding me, right?! How could he possibly have a _normal _life with _you_?!" Blaise stamped a foot on the floor, frustrated, by then he threw over board all possibility to have a rational conversation with that girl.

"I've asked myself that same question." She hissed staring fixedly at the ceiling before asking. "Blaise, have you ever met an angel?"

"What?!" The Slytherin took a deep breath and looked around for something to smash or beat the hell out besides Luna's head. "Are you nuts?!"

Luna chuckled, rubbing softly her stomach she welcomed the perfect excuse that Blaise threw at her without knowing. "It's been suggested."

Blaise then laughed without humor and turned his back at her. "Wrong choice of words..."

Luna closed her eyes again and found herself transported to the exact moment her world started to fall apart.

lllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Beginning of Luna's Flashback lllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

Luna's pearl-gray eyes remained fixed on Lucius' pale face as it became clearer once the clouds parted from the cloudy sky and the bright bluish-white moonlight filled the place with its luminescence. A growing number of Death Eaters started to come out from behind the trees and the quietness of the cemetery field was soon disrupted with the sound of blasting spells that set on fire everything around her, cornering Luna inside a ring of fire.

Trying to lift himself from the ground, Draco turned to look at Luna and cried out. "RUN!"

But the young Slytherin's chocked up scream was silenced then Lucius kicked the back of his son's head and Draco's skull hit soundly against the ground, knocking him out.

A cold shot of horror went down to Luna's stomach and imminent tears filled her eyes. "NO! DRACO!"

Luna's breath was coming in ragged puffs. Her hand gripping the wand tight and high but Lucius blocked her stunning spells - disarming her without giving the girl even time to regroup herself - and in four angry strides he reached her, catching her wrist in his powerful hand.

Shoving her hard against him - they were almost nose-to-nose if it weren't because of the difference in their heights - Lucius demanded to know. "Who are you and what were you doing with my son?"

His hot breath hit against her already sweating temple.

"I…" Luna was barely able to force that only word out, frozen in mute fear.

Lucius' hand moved up to the bare nape of her neck and squeezed with mild pressure. "Who are you?" He repeated, getting impatient.

Luna's heart was pounding violently, she could feel Lucius piercing inside her skull with a Legilimens spell but she was blocking him. _"I won't let him get inside my head. I'd do just like Draco taught me...I'd clear my mind and concentrate…" _

In reply to Luna's silence, Lucius slapped her so hard that it whipped her face to the side. The girl swallowed painfully and lifted a hand to hold her bruised cheek, her eyes watered heavily.

Fresh, blooming red rage began to give color his pale face. Lucius was breathing heavily, with crazy-wide eyes. He looked ready to tear Luna apart.

Luna's heart was going so wild that it made her rib cage hurt. "No matter what you do to me, I won't tell you _anything_."

She could barely believe herself once those words come out from her mouth, amazed at how calm she sounded when terror was literally smearing her insides.

Lucius grabbed Luna and pressed her against the stone built entrance of the cemetery underground catacombs. Her head slammed against the hard surface, filling her with blind hot pain on the back of her skull. He then hit her harder, a tight fist landed on her face. A piercing agony shot through Luna, her mouth was bleeding, and there was searing pain in her jaw. She landed on the floor on her knees, but instead of laying down and start crying she found herself fighting for balance and tried to get up.

Squeezing away the tears, Luna said to herself. _"Please God, give me strength."_

And that was when an enigmatic air wrapped her whole and filled her nostrils carrying an exquisite scent of fresh and spicy male skin. "Könnt ihr mich fühlen?"(i)

Gulping soundly, she turned her head to the sides, looking puzzled.

"Könnt ihr mich hören?"(ii) A male voice with a strong accent yet of delicate nature whispered to her, she felt as if he was talking inside her mind.

She tried to speak but even the slightest movement of her mouth was agony so she managed a tight nod for she could perfectly feel him and hear him.

"Könnt ihr mich sehen?(iii)". A smirk colored his voice this time, the sound so delicious that every hair on Luna's body stood up.

In reply Luna shook her head in denial for she couldn't see him. A faint whisper of laughter filled her ears this time; it was so subtle like the flapping of wings.

"Dreh dich um. (iv)" The male voice spoke again but there was a harsh, bossy tone and Luna realized those words were meant for Lucius.

Lucius did as requested and turned to look over his shoulder. Standing in front of him was a six feet tall teenager of an extremely intellectual yet intimidating look. The night's cold breeze ruffled his loose shoulder length hair, blowing those long silverish-blond locks over his pearl-gray eyes. He was wearing a black and silver velvet-like metallic mask that partially covered his handsome, sharp sculpted face up to his nose. His slender athletic swimmer's built up physique was dressed with a militaristic black gear that resembled a typical English horse-riding uniform: long stem leather boots up to his knees, tight fitting black pants, white shirt, silver tie and black jacket. The jacket was richly decorated with a double row of silver buttons and silver silk threads on the chest and embroidered patterns on the arms. There was an armband on his left upper arm with a black, white and gray embroidered insignia: three Swastikas arrayed within a circle, the four ends of the crosses formed a twelve rays sun design. That same insignia was embroidered on his jacket's collar.

"And who the Hell are _you_?" Lucius asked annoyingly after noticing that the fifteen Death Eaters who were escorting him lay beneath his feet – all dead - and his disarming and stunning spells had been blocked almost immediately by the young blond.

"Für Sie..."(v) There was a soft self-confident smirk touching Scorpius' pale lips, his smirk turned gently mocking when he finished the sentence. "…Ich bin Schwierigkeit. (vi)"

The elder rejoiced himself copying the teenager's mood. "That's where you're wrong. You're not trouble for _me_, boy."

If it wasn't because she was holding her jaw together with both hands for it hurt like hell when she opened it, Luna's jaw would have dropped to the floor that very same instant. That mysterious and strikingly enigmatic young wizard was the most beautiful human-being she had ever seen. He was slim yet very athletic and there was a feline quality about him.

Without a doubt Scorpius' athletic sleekness - and the way he held his tall and stylized body with such incredible ease of movement - prevented both Lucius and Luna from realizing he'd been there watching their every move until he decided to act. Now that he was close enough, Luna noticed that the young blond smelled better than any man she'd ever met.

Scorpius gave a brief and impersonal glance at Lucius, his attention focusing immediately on Luna. "Sag mir, willst Du ihn am Boden seh'n? Willst Du dass er vor Dir kniet?(vii)" He asked her, his pearl-gray eyes glittered with an eerie light.

"_He's asking me if I want Lucius Malfoy to kneel before me."_ Luna pressed the sleeve of her bubble-gum color blouse over her mouth and furrowed her brows; the ache in her jaw was getting worse. She tried to match her teeth together to see if it was broken. A moan emerged from her throat. _"I just wish to be able to move my jaw again, that would be great..." _

Sensing Luna's ache, Scorpius held tight his wand and made a blurred motion with his left wrist, a bone cracking sound – that came from both Lucius' knees – sent the man crushing onto the floor.

Ducking his head down, rejoicing himself with the painful screams that came from Lucius' torn throat, Scorpius picked his grandfather's wand from the floor and tossed it out like when encouraging a dog to go and chase after it. But Lucius could barely move; he was clenching from his legs with a hurtful grimace plastered all over his face.

Luna wondered why he didn't killed Lucius, not because she wanted the man to die, not even after what he'd done to her but because she find there was something wrong with the scene. After reading his body language she noticed that the teenager was holding himself back with all his might, as if following someone else's order…an order he seemed _remotely_ pleased to carry through but had to obey anyway.

With a growl that rumbled low in his throat, Scorpius said something to Lucius that sounded pretty much like a warning or possibly a death threat.

Luna stood immobile, watching Lucius' face and how the tension kept tightening his facial muscles one by one, a frown of anger played out in his forehead. "You can't break me, boy. No-one can."

Welcoming the challenge, Scorpius twisted his head around until his neck popped and smirked wickedly to Luna. "Willst Du dass er um Gnade fleht? (viii)". Amusement danced on his voice.

Luna and the intriguing blond remained still and silent for a then shook her head._ "You're wasting your time there. I hardly doubt this man would ever ask for mercy or plead for forgiveness, no matter what you do to him."_

Scorpius hunched forward, both Slytherin's faces were so close, all Lucius could see were the teenager's pearl-gray eyes and they never blinked or lost their focus.

A strange sound escaped Lucius' throat, one Luna couldn't interpret. Whatever Lucius saw reflected in the young Slytherin's eyes made something inside him fracture and tear apart.

"Sssstop." Lucius stammered with raw fear, a shuddering breath shivered through him.

Lucius' eyes then lost their brightness and clarity - becoming hazy and unfocused – and tears started to pour from them.

"STOP!" Lucius cried desperately when he repaired on the thread of blood coming from his own nose.

"No more! Please stop! I'm sorry for hurting her! I'M SO SORRY!" Lucius pleadings were thick with truthful emotion, tears clogging from his throat.

Scorpius' pearl-gray eyes narrowed – both men were practically eye-to-eye – and without much further do he spitted right in Lucius face before giving the elder a razor sharp smirk as if saying: _I dare you to challenge me again now._

Contorting his face after such unbearable torture, the elder Slytherin then fainted, slumping backwards. After letting go a frustrated sigh Scorpius lowered his wand and shook his head twice, getting rid of the thoughts that haunted him.

Luna couldn't quite open her jaw enough to speak and thank Scorpius properly. Her mind was somewhat paralyzed by the sensation that something amazingly extraordinary was happening to her. She then leaned forward and extended a hand towards his pale face - for she couldn't resist touching him - but Scorpius shook his head with a silent, harsh negative motion and turned his back on her, walking straight to where Draco was lying unconscious on the floor.

The young wizard lifted Draco bridal-style from the floor with astonishing ease - despite his slender physique he was remarkably strong - and squeezed his father's skinny upper body against his chest after resting carefully Draco's head on the crook of his neck.

Brushing softly the damp blond blocks away from his father's face with one hand, Scorpius cast a cleansing spell on Draco and started tracing the back of his palm against the unconscious blonde's cheeks before trailing one finger over his father's lips. Leaning forward he smirked darkly; he was just an inch apart from Draco's mouth.

"Mein Herz brennt… Ich will dass… (ix)" He whispered against his father's lips but then, as if stricken with a sudden mood swing, he pressed a brief kiss on Draco's forehead. "Es tut mir leid. (x)" His voice denoted a sad yet tense tone.

"You've heard me when I've asked for help..." Luna's pearl-gray eyes were staring at the young blond without blinking. "I knew it!"

She then noticed how the pale face of the young wizard literally shined in contact with Draco's flesh, reflecting an iridescent light against the velvety, soft metallic composition of his mask.

"_You're Draco's guardian angel."_ She concluded to herself.

"Engel…" Scorpius' lips curled softly when he repeated the word in German language while tracing the contour of Draco's jaw with the fingertips of his left hand.

Gulping soundly, Luna realized then that the _angel _had just read her mind.

Scorpius rested the tip of his nose against Draco's temple and started whispering – he was actually singing – some fainting words. "Schlafe Kindlein, schlafe. Tu' die Äuglein zu. Gottes Engel hüten. Deine süsse Ruh. Ob die Donner rollen, Zuckt der Blitze Schein, Möge doch mein Kindlein. Ruhig schlafen ein..." He finished with a peaceful humming.

Luna's lips followed the song - it was a lullaby - but she didn't knew the words in German so she whispered them in English. "Sleep little child, sleep. Close your little eyes, God's angels are guarding your sweet rest. Even if thunder rolls, if lightning quivers, may my little child, fall quietly asleep…"

"You sing beautifully." The girl acknowledged.

When Scorpius pearl-gray eyes met Luna's, thick and heavy, all tenderness vanished from his facial features and she nearly choked on her words. _"Seems that he doesn't take compliments very well." _

Scorpius was evaluating the surrounding area with a clinical eye, checking if there was no immediate threat, when a white and black feathered owl rested over a headstone, facing the two Slytherins. The bird started flapping its wings, visibly wanting to get Scorpius' attention.

Rolling tiredly his pearl-gray eyes, the Slytherin snorted. "Lex…"

At the sound of its name the owl started to flap its mixed color wings eagerly. Scorpius then rested Draco over the stone built headstone – placing his father into a sitting position - and kneeled besides him, guarding him.

The owl jumped off the headstone, made a few circles over Scorpius and landed softly and quietly over his left shoulder, cuddling, practically nesting over it. The young blond let go an unheard sigh before fixing his gaze on Luna.

Wanting to avoid at all cost his piercing stare her curious gaze then rested on the armband on his left forearm – the one with the embroidered sun-shaped insignia – and asked. "What does that mean?"

"Schwarze Sonne. (xii)" Ducking his head to the side, Scorpius explained. "Keine sonne die mir scheint. (xiii)"

"_Black __sun?"_ Luna pursed her lips into a tight line. _"I wonder if he can speak in English too, I'm finding hard to understand him." _

After giving Luna a measuring glance, Scorpius pointed with the tip of his wand at the embroidered armband. "This is my Clan's Coat of Arms: the Black Sun." There was not only a heavy German accent still present in his words but also an annoying lecturing tone when – noticing her puzzled face – he explained. "There are two suns, the White Sun, the one you see rising every morning in the sky and there's the Black Sun: the one that's _hidden_…the Sun of spiritual illumination."

Her curious eyes traveled Scorpius' half hidden face; she was completely marveled with his sticking presence. _"Angels are divine soldiers and they hide their faces because it's forbidden for them to show their true face to humans. I wonder why he has no wings, probably since they assume a human form while they're on earth they have to hide them too."_

"I had my wings ripped apart when I came to this earth. My original creator did that to me as punishment, for disobeying orders." Scorpius started, his tone was matter-of-fact but he cut himself abruptly, his expression immediately turned thoughtful. "You people are constantly breaking rules so I guess that makes me as close as a human can be."

A long, heavy silence stretched between them until Luna asked quietly. "Are you still immortal?"

Scorpius tilted his head to the side, staring at Draco from the corner of the eye before replying. "No, but as long as I've got a reason to live for I can't die."

Luna knew that it was useless to keep her thoughts to herself anymore but still she found herself saying the words out loud. "You're in debt with Draco, that's what makes you say something as extreme as that." It wasn't a question, it wasn't a guess either. She was sure that was the case.

Fixing his gaze on his father's unconscious figure, Scorpius started retelling. "Many years have passed since the first time he told me that I was worthy enough to stay alive yet he never lets a single day pass by without reminding me that…in some way or another. But he doesn't do it as something imposed or as an obligation towards me so I can get through another day: he does it without even stopping to think about it."

Emotion gripped the young wizard's throat like a rope, he couldn't say another word. Scopius looked both defendless and unreachable and that devastatingly hurtful image practically draw Luna like a magnet.

"It's as if there's this never-ending energy flowing inside that motivates him to express that he cares about me. When I'm with him I feel safe and cherished and contained and…forgiven." The chocking angst in Scorpius' words took Luna's breath away. She didn't think she'd ever heard so much pain expressed so vividly.

"Draco confessed to me on more than one occasion that he'd regretted growing up without a sibling." Luna's paused to rest her tender gaze on Scorpius' face and smiled candidly. "I dare say that if he took you under his care is because he considers you part of his family."

"He's everything I've got." Scorpius confessed with a breathless whisper that awakened Luna's senses one by one.

The owl moved a little closer to the blond, and rubbed softly his smooth silk feathers against one of the teenager's cheeks before cuddling itself in the crook of Scorpius neck, as if reminding him of its presence.

"You can have me." Luna found herself saying those words aloud, making her heart beat strangely fast.

Something stuck on Scorpius, his facial features hardened in a beat, his pearl-gray eyes glowing with dislike.

"As your friend." She added feeling her cheeks hot with embarrassment.

Scorpius gave her a silent aggrieved look from under his mask. Dry heaves wracked his body for several seconds before he was able to get them under control.

"The words came out wrong. I didn't mean…" Luna brought both hands over her face feeling angry with the fact that she couldn't hide a thing from him.

Scorpius blinked hard several times, trying to focus his mind and allowing his stomach time to adjust and keep the retching at bay.

"I'm sorry." Her heart pounded so hard from fear she was certain it would jump from her chest.

When their eyes connected again a serious headache began pounding behind Luna's. Her hands began to shake as fear once again knotted her stomach.

"I'm not here to save you but to warn you: you can't stay here, if you do your actions would lead you to yours and his downfall. If you cherish your happiness, you must return to the Chateau immediately." His voice was mild, but his face was dark and his eyes flashed with irritation.

"What about Draco?" She asked suspiciously with difficulty getting a deep enough breath.

Scorpius' anger faded slowly from his gorgeous features with the abrupt turn of Luna's thoughts. "He can't go with you now. There are people here who need him. I'll watch over him until he wakes up."

The owl ducked its head, watching Draco intently then back to Scorpius.

"We'll watch over him." Scorpius corrected himself, seeing the bird from the corner of his eye.

"Is that your pet?" Luna asked, looking curiously at the owl.

She blinked a couple of times, surprised to see that the feathers of the bird were slowly turning whiter with the passing of the minutes.

"A creature like this can't be owned." He pointed out before turning to look at the bird. "However this species is constantly looking forward to belong to someone because it tends to neglect itself if no-one pays attention or shows interest in it."

The owl shrugged shamelessly into a black and white feather ball over Scorpius' shoulder.

"You're starving. Why don't you go and fetch something juicy to eat?" The Slytherin suggested to Lex.

As if reading the animal's indecision, the blond teased. "Get your claws dirty for a change and kill a couple of rats. It'd do you good to change your diet a bit. Eating flavorless insects alone is not what I'd call a nutrient contribution."

The owl remained still as a statue. Rolling dramatically his eyes, the blond tossed out. "I'll be right here waiting for you to come back."

Luna's eyes followed when the owl flapped its wings eagerly shortly before taking off the blonde's shoulder. "That owl understands everything you say."

"Actually, it's the other way round. I know Lex for fifteen years now." Scorpius then rested Draco's head over his lap, caressing softly and tenderly his father's damp blond curls between his long fingers.

Luna fixed her gaze on the distant spot where the silhouette of Lucius laid unconscious on the ground. "What stopped you from taking the life of Lucius Malfoy?"

"Him." Scorpius replied bluntly looking at Draco. "He doesn't wish his father's death. He's grateful for the things he'd learnt from his progenitor: Lucius made Draco Malfoy the man he is now. He trained and shaped his son to become a leader."

As curiosity got the best of her, Luna couldn't help but ask. "Not even after everything that man did to his mother?"

"The death of Narcissa Black was the starting point of her son's journey..." Leveling his pearl-gray eyes to those matching color gems of hers, Scorpius added. "It takes a great share of sacrifice to achieve perfection."

"Perfection forged out of suffering?" Luna went still, a cold shiver ran through her spine.

"You're a quick learner." Scropius' lips curled into the most mischievous smirk ever for a second before his pale face became completely unreadable. "When you lose what you cherish dearly then the limits of what you're capable of doing vanish completely: it's only after you lose everything that you're capable to do anything."

Catching a glimpse of Neville, Harry and other Gryffindors standing against a group of Death Eaters on the other side of the cemetery hill, Luna grew restless, clenching tight her wand with both hands.

"The unfortunate, the fools, are those who have no estimation of what is to be lost when they decide to jump into action." It took Luna a moment to realize Scorpius was being sarcastic.

When he spoke again, his voice held a scolding tone. "You might have changed your friends' destinies if you've disciplined yourself and paid attention to what Draco Malfoy wanted to teach you, but instead of learning from him you've chosen to run away."

Luna felt a bit restless at his remark. She wanted to say something but the words were locked behind her teeth.

Trailing his fingertips down the side of his father's temple, Scorpius spoke his mind, wondering out loud. "When confronting adversity you've always made the wrong choice: you've run when you should have stayed. And now that you must run, you're going to stay and try to save those friends of yours."

"Yes." She replied determined.

"They're already dead and you can't do anything to stop it." The Slytherin gave her an inexorable look. "This is life…fairness has nothing to do with it."

Luna narrowed her pearl-gray eyes. Was he testing her? Or did he just want to confuse her even more and make her feel weak and completely unsure of herself? She then started to wonder if she'd had a fixed label above her forehead that read: "Hopeless" or "Victim".

Snorting vaguely while reading her thoughts, the blond shook his head to the sides. "No, I'm remotely like them. I'm not one of those bullies who profited from your insecurities and made you doubt about your shaky sense of sanity." Pausing to draw a long, steady breath, he asked. "Haven't you wondered why you've been molested so often by them?"

She blinked in surprise, staring at the blond, still unable to shake the feeling that he could read her so thoroughly.

"Because for them you are a threat, someone they had to subdue and neutralize before it's too late and slipped from their hands making them lose power. After all bullies are not confident people but those who cover themselves behind a false image to cover their deficiencies. That's why they approach people like you: you're intelligent, well-mannered, creative, jovial, imaginative, eye-catcher…" Scorpius voice then trailed off and lowered his gaze to his father's face, he looked burdened.

Luna looked up into those pair of pearl-gray eyes and she found herself desperately tongue-tied, her heart began to thump so hard that she felt a little light-headed.

"_No wonder angels why are considered divine creatures." _She then smiled somewhat stupidly.

She was incredibly surprised and gratified that he would praise her like that. Her cheeks blushed a vivid tint of red as she felt the tension of opposing urges while evaluating the many qualities of that enigmatic blond. He was not only extraordinarily handsome but there was a strong and irresistible magnetism around him that outmatched his good looks and made her stomach filled with butterflies.

"…you've caught Draco Malfoy's attention nonetheless. Without a doubt, you _are_ a threat." He finished, his voice dripped with the venom of his remembered hatred.

When his gaze returned to look at her, Scorpius seemed to be looking right inside Luna. His eyes then sparked with a blazing fire so fierce and intimidating that Luna's heart missed a beat and every single hair on her body stood up in fear and her knees began to shake.

"_Angels can be incredibly scary and intimidating too."_ She concluded to herself; her smile dropping from her face.

"Like I've said before, I'm not here to save you. You've got to do that yourself. Right now I'm giving you a second chance, but you're going to turn it down, aren't you?" Without waiting for Luna to reply, he continued. "Well then…remember my words: you're the culprit here not him. You've just wasted your only chance to be happy and his one opportunity to have a normal life."

Scorpius' voice was crisp but soft, like ice wrapped in velvet, forcing Luna to re-evaluate the situation.

Noticing her incomprehension, he explained. "For Draco Malfoy, you're his only hope for a normal life. He firmly believes that the magic essence in you is the one thing that would grant him the balance he's so determined to achieve. He thinks that without you the man he wants to be won't exist…but he's wrong." The blond then shook his head. "You're not his salvation but his doom for you can end up destroying his magic's true source of power: his darkness."

Gulping soundly, Luna stared at Scorpius with a blank look. "You're saying that _I_ can put an end to Draco's dark magic?"

"If he doesn't happen to kill you first…" Scorpius produced a small sterling engraved casket box from one of his jacket's pockets and threw it for her to catch it.

Once she opened the small box, Luna recognized the content immediately: it was a prophecy. Inspecting the small silverfish-blue sphere in her hand Luna's pearl-gray eyes got glued on the letters written on it: "D&L MALFOY" the moment her fingers encircled it a ghostly-like voice resounded past her ears:

"_A Dragon's child and a Moon's child would open the doors of their misfortune after coming together and blending the purity of their magic essences in an act of love. The fruit of their mutual sacrifice would find no place in a world that was not design to hold such creation. These two passionate hearts would find temporal quietness and peace, like burning flames tamed by a silent sprinkle. But two unyielding powerful forces can't remain equalized or dormant for long for it can't be tamed what it's limitless or contain a never-ending flow. The clashing of these two lovers would lead to a complete lose of their selves and the death of one of them, thus precipitating the fall of the Wizardry World..." _

As a crawling nausea fought her way up her throat, Luna's eyes started to water, she refused to hear the rest. "No, that can't be true."

Eyeing the prophecy fixedly in Luna's palm, Scorpius acknowledged. "Yours and his magic are not opposite forces that can eventually complement the other: both your magic essences neutralize the other…_drain _the other. You two are not mere enemies but each others imminent death. If you wish him a prosperous life, you'd leave him because if you don't, the death of one of you would disrupt the balance of the Wizardry World. But before you decide to part from him and start a path of your own…you've got to make sure he won't need you anymore. You've got to make sure he'd stopped loving you."

Luna's pearl-gray eyes then filled with tears she could no longer hold back. "But Draco had always fought against it, he'd never let it get the best of him. If he happens to lose his Dark Magic, this doesn't mean he'd have to die. And he and I could be together and no-one would have to suffer!"

Flicking his left wrist, Scorpius cast a wandless spell on the air as the letters "**D**RACO **M**ALFOY" started to glow with a beautiful turquoise-bluish luminescence but suddenly they started to catch fire – taking a vivid dark reddish color – as other letters rearranged in between forming the words "**D**ARK **M**AGIC".

The Slytherin's pearl-gray eyes were cold and assessing. "No matter how you spell it, both bear the same meaning. If you were to destroy his Dark Magic, you'd end up killing him."

Despite the stillness of his voice it made Luna shiver with an ice-cold sensation.

She shook her head violently in denial, covering her face with one hand. "We've had a fight but we've sort it out because Draco and I love each other! I know we'd overcome successfully the difficult times because the kind of love we feel for each other is the one that lasts forever!"

Scorpius' voice was full of warning in spite of his impassive face. "If you indeed love him, you've got to set him free from the mortal trap of your relationship before it's too late. You've got to prevent the Wizardry World from getting splattered with the blood of one of you." The blond then added with a mocking face. "Choosing the greater good is never a sacrifice, is it?"

She gasped - grabbing the prophesy tightly inside her palm - her eyes opening wide and staring up at him in fear, then confusion. "You're talking as if you've already seen the future."

"A _possible_ future, one in which billions would die because they never understood the importance of things, they never treasured the gift of life or appreciate its blessings and were immersed in their selfishness." Scorpius looked pensive for a moment before smirking ironically. "They'd die just for being humans but none of them would ever lean to be grateful because no-one would survive."

Luna felt a stream of tears rolling down her cheeks.

Scorpius eyes fluttered briefly following Luna's racking entwined thoughts. "You're misunderstanding me. My _mission_ isn't to perpetuate the continuity of the human kind but the one that means the most to me happens to be a human: it's a collateral benefit."

It was starting to rain again. Scorpius tilted his head up and licked a raindrop from the corner of his mouth. "If you want to try and save your friends you'd better do it now. I'm not feeling well. Your closeness is speeding up the erupting cycle of my sickness."

"You're ill?" She asked truly worried.

"I was born with this _disease_." A painful frown was traced on Scorpius' forehead as a veil of sweat covered his face.

When the raindrops touched Scorpius' face they evaporated immediately denoting an inhumanly high body temperature.

"Your naivety is insulting. I don't need your pity." He said gritting teeth angrily after reading Luna's stream of conscience.

Pursing his lips tight, Scorpius stifled the urges to scream, enduring in silence the excruciating pain he was suffering.

Once the blond spoke again his voice was shaky, coming in sound and hollow puffs of air. "You'd never understand…what you cannot…comprehend."

Scorpius hunched forward, arching his back and placed his right hand over his mouth, when he retrieved it, it came coated with a crimson veil.

Luna's pupils dilated in full, her nerves sky-rocketed. "You've helped us, let me help you! What can I do?!"

"How can I save you if I can't even save myself?" He reflected out loud, there was a deep expression carved on Scorpius' handsome features that denoted accented defeat.

Pressing the open palm of his left hand over Draco's chest, the teenager's eyelids then fluttered shut - as if caught in a profound trance - while sensing his father's heartbeats. His voice came undone with a heart-breakingly sad hiss: he knew he was fighting a lost battle.

A second later a blinding marigold color magical halo encircled both Slytherins inside a swirled cocoon of eerie and warm light that sparkled even more with the surrounding iridescent water drops. That magical energy entered Draco's body and – as if he were a marionette - made him sit in front of his son, wrapping both arms tightly around Scorpius' upper body. Draco did all that without opening his eyes, he was still deep and soundly asleep.

Scorpius whispered some fainting words to Draco, it sounded like a farewell. Draco broke into breathless sobs - trying in vain not to cry but not to avail - and pressed Scorpius hermetically against his chest, refusing to part from him.

Luna focused on Draco's lips, trying to read them, and despite she couldn't hear what Scorpius had just said to her husband she could get Draco's answer because he kept repeating those three words insistently. _"Stay with me."_

Scorpius ducked his head, staring intently at Draco's face before saying something that sounded like a request. As he spoke he looked supremely embarrassed but at the same time it seemed that he was getting a heavy burden off his chest - something he couldn't hold in secret any longer - and those words released a bigger stream of tears down Draco's cheeks.

Luna's eyebrows furrowed with marked confusion, whatever Scorpius asked or expected her husband to do next made Draco incredible tense and nervous. Reading beyond her husband's facial features, Luna noticed that Draco was terrified.

Draco brushed his lips over his son's forehead and spoke with a tear-clotted voice. Scorpius then murmured a soft melody to calm Draco's rattling nerves but that only made his father cry harder. Draco looked angry with himself but forced a tight nod, finally accepting Scorpius' request. Luna could feel that something bad was going to happen and she was the only one who could stop it.

Without thinking it twice she broke into a run and was about half way from the Slytherins when she heard a strange rumbling sound coming from under the ground – resembling a concentrated earthquake – made her lose balance and fell backwards.

Luna's gaze followed what was happening in front of her eyes as if hypnotized. The bodies of the two Slytherins – who were closely together sharing a tight embrace - raised a few feet off the floor. She then filled her lungs, catching again the scent of Scorpius' skin. It seemed as if the rainwater accented his masculine perfume but Luna was unaware that Scorpius was actually channeling his dark magic's essence with his father's, establishing a mutual synchronicity that transcended the psychic level and dug deeper into a physical one. The perfume that Scorpius' pores were emanating where the ones of his pheromones, triggered by such blissful communion with Draco, Luna was right…Scorpius smelled incredibly good when wet.

Scorpius arched his back - tilting his head to the sky - and let go a delicious and sensual moan past his half-closed lips. Immediately after that the bodies of both Slytherins landed abruptly on the ground, Draco on top of Scorpius who used his own body to ease his father's fall.

As the light enclosing them started to fade, Scorpius opened lazily his eyes. His pale cheeks denoted a vivid shade of pink. He grabbed his father's hand in his - intertwined his fingers with Draco's - and kissed it several times as he murmured some fainting words under his breath before lifting Draco's hand against his chest, close to his heart.

Halting mere inches from where Scorpius and Draco were laying on the floor, Luna demanded to know, getting frantic. "What have you done to Draco?!"

"What I do every night when he's sleeping profoundly: I submit to him and he heals me." He confessed with a husky, low voice trailing the back of Draco's palm down to the side of his cheeks as if seeking comfort.

"You do this to him _every_ night?!" She repeated with a scratchy hysterical voice.

"When I was younger I didn't need to do it that often but as I grew older, it became a daily necessity." He paused briefly and once he steadied his fast breathing he added. "He's the only one with emotions and magic powerful enough to tame the outbursts of my inner flow, preventing it from turning chaotic."

Luna's gaze focused on Draco's face and on his moistened cheeks. "You made him do it! You _forced _him!" She accused.

"He refused at first because he was scared." He whispered, his voice little more than a husky rasp.

The Slytherin then lifted his gaze painfully and looked at her without blinking. "But then he understood what it had to be done so that I could not only balance temporarily but also nurture my human side."

"You were _feeding_ yourself from him?! Don't touch him! Get away from him!" She meant to lean forward with the intention to pull Draco away from Scorpius' arms but she froze when his eyes turned red as burning coals.

He literally dug a hole inside her skull as he continued to stare at her without blinking. "You'd better don't provoke me."

A wave of coldness went through Luna and her blood literally froze; she remained still like a living statue.

Scorpius then pulled Draco into a sitting position, pressing his father's back against his chest, wrapping both arms possessively around Draco's upper body before resting his chin on one of his father's sharp shoulder blades. "Yes, I can control your body at will. I can make it do things…_hurtful_ things."

"Just like what you've done to Draco?" Luna demanded to know but a stinging puncture on her heart shut her up almost immediately.

"Just like what you'd do to what's growing inside your womb." Scorpius replied bluntly and rested his gaze on her flat stomach.

The Slytherin's eyes closed for a fraction of second, his whole body shuddered angrily. "It won't be long before you start plotting the most effective and permanent way to get rid of it, jeopardizing that pregnancy, making it fail to come to term."

She had to clear her dry throat several times, but still she couldn't find her voice back. _"No! I'd never harm my baby!"_

"You'd start by telling yourself that you're not ready to become a mother, you'd blame your husband for not being able to understand what you're going through, you'd complain about the changes your body is undergoing, placing yourself as the sole victim, contributing with the doom of what's been conceived inside you..." He paused, uncertain whether to continue or not with what he wanted to say next. "There's nothing more terrible to hear than the screamings of a dying unborn creature."

The look in Luna's pearl-gray eyes was pure panic.

"But you already know that, don't you? I'm talking about those _nightmares_ of yours, the ones that started two months ago, right after your _baby_ was conceived." Scorpius stressed the words with harsh irony but there was a bubbling sadness beneath the surface. "Those are no nightmares but visions: what's inside your womb is suffering every single second of it."

Still unable to move or open her mouth, Luna let go a silent scream with the strength of her desperation.

"Love and understanding cannot grow in a heart full of fear like yours. That's exactly what's trimming the chances that _baby _has to make it alive in this world_. _But, unlike you, he _does_ love his offspring." Scorpius then ducked his head to stare at Draco and smirked nervously. "I never thought a human would be able to perpetuate unconditionally such powerful feeling." He acknowledged proudly and lifted his gaze.

She couldn't stand Scorpius' gaze for it was too painful yet she couldn't stop looking at him with a mixture of terror and uncertainty and, unbelievably, arousal. There was that sensual male scent again, insanely addictive. Her heartbeats skyrocketed violently still she could barely move her nearly numbed body.

"I can stand your hatred towards me, I'm used to it, but I won't tolerate your lust a second longer. You'd better stop thinking about me that way because I'm completely devoted to him." After moistening his lips with the tip of his tongue, Scorpius pressed a soft kiss on his father's cheek. "Draco Malfoy is the only one who can dispose of me as he pleases or sees fit."

Scorpius pearl-gray eyes glowed with a lust so deep and powerful that Luna read it right through and made an unpleasant sickening feeling crawl inside her_. _

Luna realized that there were certain buttons that no-one had pressed in her before and suddenly that mysterious blond pushed them all together building up the tension in her until an explosion erupted from inside her. Putting her mind in blank, stopping Scorpius from guessing her next moves, Luna decided to act.

In a lighting-fast motion Luna raised her wand towards Scorpius and called out. "Petrificus Totalus!"

Releasing Draco from his grip Scorpius fell back on the ground, completely immobilized.

"Mobilicorpus!" Luna called out again, levitating and moving Draco's unconscious body from the floor as she broke into a run - carrying Draco with her - fearing Scorpius wouldn't get immobilized by her spell for long. And she was right for Scorpius apparated barely seconds after in front of her, blocking her path.

Shielding Draco behind her, Luna confronted Scorpius defiantly. "I won't let my friends die nor allow you to get near Draco _ever_ again!"

"You shouldn't have provoked me, you foulsome worm!" The blond wizard warned, by then his voice became completely unearthly it sounded like a mixture of wild animal sounds shaped into words.

Luna felt her heart in her throat. "What are you really?" She asked, fearing already the answer.

After blocking her disarming and restraining spells the blond spoke with a low voice that seemed to come from the very core of his dark soul. "I'm whatever and whoever Draco Malfoy wants me to be."

"You're not his guardian angel; you're something even worse than Voldemort." Luna's pearl-gray eyes were watering despite herself.

"Yes, I'm many times worse than the Dark Lord." Scorpius flashed a winning smirk. "But that's exactly what makes me _better_ than Him and the only one immune to His army."

"People are dying! Put an end to this war!" Luna ordered with a torn voice.

"That's Draco Malfoy's destiny, not mine." Scorpius replied tonelessly.

"Then stop hurting Draco!" She shot back, this time trying not to lose the edge of her voice again.

"I can't stand to see the hurt in the eyes of the one that means the most to me. I'd rather die than cause him pain." Scorpius confessed, his voice denoted a building tension.

"But you are hurting him!" She blinked fiercely and talked in a rush with the swirl of emotions that threatened to drown her. "You feed from Draco's feelings and magic when he's completely defendless and unaware of what you're doing to him! Without a doubt Draco would stop caring about you if he knew you're using him like that!"

"Even if he's not consciously aware, I'm not forcing him to do anything he doesn't want to. I always wait for his consent. We both _feed_ from each other: he likes to dominate me and enjoys the control he forces upon me as much as I crave for his possession and the feeling of having him inside me." Scorpius paused to stare at her for a moment; he seemed to be rejoicing inside with her uneasiness. "Draco Malfoy is a man of incredible deep and strong passions: his Dark Magic power is a reflection of his self. His hunger for power is as unlimited as my hunger for him. That's why I'm more than willing to procure everything he wants, to repay him for everything he'd granted me."

A suffocating wave of heat went through Luna, something that felt like anger or hate but it was more intense. "You're lying!" She cried out, coming apart.

At that remark, Scorpius couldn't help but smirk sourly. "Even if I wanted to, I can't lie. If he lets me do it because, deep inside, he's desperately seeking for someone to quench every single one of his unfulfilled needs and desires." He paused again to taste the smell of her anxiety before adding. "But most important because he wants to take care of me in every way he can. He's the only one able to heal me, the only one who can help me. I'd die without him and that's why I know that he'd never, _ever_ dare to part away from my side. Maybe one day he'd even be willing to cure me permanently, taking away not only the sickness but also the purity of my magic and body."

"Oh my God!" Luna felt a bolt of pain crossing her chest, similar to a stinging contraction preceding a heart-attack.

"No, you're wrong. What I feel about him it's not limited only to the selfish craving of his flesh, it's so much more: I'm in love with him." Scorpius replied seriously to some of her many silent questions. "When there's no room for doubts in your mind, no limits in your body you can't surpass and there's not a single trace of fear in your heart that's when you know you've fallen in love: I've been in love with Draco Malfoy before I even met him."

Turning to face Draco, Luna pointed her wand at him. "Ennervate!"

There was a twisted satisfaction curling Scorpius' velvety lips. "I'm afraid he won't wake up just yet, he's beyond exhausted. He'd need time to recover after what happened between the two of us tonight. It's been a most memorable night indeed."

But Scorpius wasn't talking only about the mystical communion his father and he had minutes ago but also about the first time he'd been awakened by Draco in that same cemetery field, the moment when he took his father and chained him on the cemetery underground alley and quenched _other _kind of needs.

"Don't come near us!" Luna yelped.

When Luna's stunning spell and Scorpius' shielding charm met in the middle their magic collided causing a violent ricochet rippling effect that threw them onto the ground, both losing momentary grip of their wands. Luna spun her head to the side – as she tried to retrieve the prophecy that had slipped from inside the pocket of her pants - and saw Draco's unconscious body fell onto the ground, inside a puddle of mud.

Her eyelids fought to remain opened but the residual effects of the stunning spell left her body partially numbed and she couldn't get up from the floor. "If you feed from Draco's Dark Magic… then I swear I'd take it away so that you could no longer harm him… without it _you _would be the one who perishes… _not_ Draco." She mumbled in her dizzy state.

The second she accio her wand back, she aimed it at Scorpius, emptying her lungs out. "Sectumsempra!"

What followed next was a blurry for Luna, she saw a splash of blood coming from Scorpius' stomach and immediately after that Lucius popped from nowhere and walked intently towards her, stepping over the prophecy, smashing with his foot the silverfish-blue sphere.

It took a blink of an eye for an army of Death Eaters that approached Draco – with the intention to kidnap him and held him captive - to fall dead on the floor as if following a domino effect. The wet muddied soil granted a _splash _sound once the limp bodies hit the ground.

"Meine Ehre heißt Treue!(xiii)" Scorpius called out loud, holding high his wand, and immediately after that a series of glowing red spinning circles started to float over the corpses of the vast number of dead bodies.

And that was when Luna lost grip of consciousness and everything around her went pitch black.

llllllllllllllllllllll End of Luna's Flashback llllllllllllllllllllllllll

Coming from such painful memories, Luna sunk herself on the bed, swamping in despair. She then noticed that Blaise's dark eyes were inspecting her carefully before shoving a parchment in front of her nose.

After inspecting the document with a trembling pulse of both her hands, her voice then lowered to a hiss. "Draco is divorcing me?"

Sliding his hands in his pant's pockets, the jet black Slytherin watched her with a narrowed gaze. "The divorce was filed on the grounds of insupportability, meaning the marriage had become insupportable because of personality conflicts. That's the quickest and most convenient way to end it. Otherwise the matter would have to be sent to the Ministry for a hearing and that would bring along all kinds of nastiness and humiliation for Draco. I simply can't allow that to happen." He then handled a gilded self-inking quill. "Sign it."

Luna grabbed the quill tight enough to break it and looked at Blaise without blinking. "But he hasn't signed it."

"Don't worry, he will." Blaise's voice held an ice-cold surety that pierced right through her.

She was about to sign when she felt the baby kicking. Luna was devastated, her heart bleeding with the invisible chocking grip of guilt. _"I'm sorry Scorpius but no matter how much your father and I love each other, we can't be together. I hope Draco would make you his chance to a normal life. I hope his love for you would make him choose the right path and don't let his darkness get the best of him."_

A tear rolled down her cheek once she finished scribbling her name on the parchment.

Retrieving the signed document and quill with a winning smirk, the Slytherin began to restore his clothing – rolling over and putting over his jacket, buttoning his shirt and fixing the knot of his tie – and placed the parchment inside one pocket along with the sealed envelopes of Draco's tests.

Luna wrapped her arms around her swollen belly, rocking herself slowly back-and-forth with a lost, blank look. And that's when she felt her wedding ring started to burn her skin. With an unconscious reaction, she tried to get it off but it didn't budge. To her surprise once Blaise grabbed her forcefully by her wrist and pulled hard from the ring with his other hand the jewel finally came out from her finger.

"How could you do that?" Luna brought one hand over her mouth.

"The reason why this ring finally came off is because Draco had broken his bows." Blaise said harshly and pocketed the ring in his pants.

"Blaise, what did you do to him?" Her amethyst blue eyes then refilled with tears, she squeezed them shut and rubbed her tummy – making large circles – with her other hand, easing the uncomfortable spasms.

"I didn't do anything, Draco did: he stopped loving you." The Slytherin replied with a winning smirk before pressing his open palm on her swollen stomach. "The second this baby is born, you'd be sent to Azkaban: you'll rot and die in there." He sentenced with a voice so low and threatening that it made Luna froze in shock.

An out-of-breath nurse halted by the door frame, her face was all flushed, she looked visibly embarrassed.

"Mr. Malfoy!" She yelped, calling immediately Blaise's attention. "It's your brother…he…" The witch tried to ease the drumming of her accelerated heart and placed a hand over her chest to calm herself down.

Blaise sent a scolding roar. "What happened to Draco?!"

Once she recovered her voice, the nurse alerted. "He's not in his room!"

The jet black Slytherin's heart missed two consecutive beats when he remembered Draco's words:

"_Everybody knows that many followers of the Dark Lord swore revenge and want my head over a plate."_

His dark eyes redden with repressed anger. "Those four walls were secured with protection spells and charms to avoid anyone from getting in without my permission and I've placed five men to guard the entrance! Where are they?!" The Slytherin demanded to know.

The woman started crying. "Sir, no-one entered the room. We found the men assigned to guard your brother lying unconscious on the floor. One of them regained conscience just yet and identified Draco Malfoy as his attacker."

Blaise had to stop himself from screaming out his impotence by biting hard on his lip. _"The pain-killing meds I've administrated to Draco would take effect the second he experiences intense pain so in the dizzy and disoriented shape he might be right now he won't go very far."_

He then pushed from his way the nurse but bumped into four people. Two were Aurors specially assigned by the Ministry to escort Luna to Azkaban once the baby was born. One of them handled Blaise the approved parchment which stated that Luna had been denied of a trial because the weight of Blaise's memory an the results of the physical tests he'd took from Draco before his intervention had been evidence enough to speed the legal process. The other two were members of The Order of the Phoenix: Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin.

"We received your owl." Lupin and his wife said in unison.

Getting exasperated, Blaise spitted out. "You should have arrived hours ago to guard my brother, because of you he's missing now! Where is Snape?!"

The Slytherin demanded to know, and that was when the pitch-black darkness of Blaise's eyes met a matching pair…the ones from Severus Snape.

"I'm here." Snape purred with a voice that gave the three of them goosebumps.

Blaise made a tight nod and addressed the elder with politeness and respect in spite his racking nerves.

"Sir, I appreciate your coming here in such short notice..." He started but Snape clenched his fingers like a claw over one of Blaise's shoulders and shoved forcefully the young Slytherin away from the others.

"I came back from the Ministry as soon as I finished with the documentation regarding the sudden unnatural combustion of the bodies of over fifty prisoners condemned for treason that were waiting to be transferred to Azkaban." Snape explained with an accomplice yet tight grin. "No-one would ever find out about your visiting them early this morning."

Blaise ducked his head shamefully and muttered his thanks.

"What happened? Why did your brother run away?" Snape demanded to know as he pushed Blaise's back against the wall.

"When we talked earlier Draco acted as if he was afraid of me finding out that Luna had taken away all his magic. I've tried to read his mind but he was unconsciously shutting me out." Swallowing the lump down his throat, Blaise hissed the words out. "I couldn't bring myself to tell him the truth."

Snape narrowed his eyes, making his piercing gaze even more intimidating. "What makes you think that he'd rather believe he's a squib than finding out you've saved him?"

"Just like when he did last night, Draco remembered Scorpius, he remembered Luna…he remembered practically everyone but when it comes to me, it's like a blank inside his mind." Lifting his sore eyes to face the Headmaster, Blaise said with a shaky voice. "That's why I wanted to carry on with the rite the way I originally planned to the very end. I mean what's the purpose in living if …"

Stamping his open palm against the wall, Snape leaned closer until he was almost nose-to-nose with Blaise. "If last night your brother couldn't remember who you were it doesn't mean that you're of no importance to him. He was rediscovering himself and, because you're his equal, he was rediscovering you in the process as well. And today, whatever made him bury deep inside his mind part of his memories and refloated others was probably because..."

"He started having second thoughts and regrets having saved my life?" The young Slytherin offered with a grin but ended up swallowing the chocking nervousness that had come up in his throat.

Snape took a step back and let go a vague snort-like sound. "Seems that you're the one who's forgotten that even if your brother couldn't remember who you were he still wanted you to live and didn't repair on the price he'd got to pay to make that happen. Doesn't that give you an idea of how much he cares about you?"

A tint of angst then flickered in Blaise's diminishing voice. "Yes."

"I still can't believe you wanted me to get rid of your corpse and give this to your brother." Snape then produced a sterling locket from under his robes and handled it to Blaise.

Tears started to fall from Blaise's cheeks as he cupped his locket inside his palm – the one with the photos of him and Draco as children – and pressed it against his heart. "I just wanted to make things right for a change!" He sobbed angrily.

"Your brother's insecurities and fears could end up getting the best of him if we don't do something to stop his downfall. It's up to us, the ones who owe him more than our lives, to help him overcome this most difficult time and convince him that life is worth living. It would be advisable if we convince ourselves first of that before speaking with him." Something about the quality of that wise stare made Blaise's heart start beating strangely.

Blaise was finding hard to breathe properly for his stress hormones were stopping him from taking deep intakes of oxygen, pushing him slowly into a nervous breakdown.

"I can feel Draco's confusion burning underneath my skin." His shoulders began to shake; his breath was coming in small, snuffling gasps.

A sense of pressure expanded in Blaise's chest, he couldn't breathe. A dreadful sense of fear made his hands and legs start shaking, his heart was pounding incredible fast. "The burden he's feeling is incredible intense and suffocating."

Blaise pressed an open palm against his forehead, feeling his temperature rising with the passing of the minutes. He'd never felt this _connected _to Draco before.

"Stop taking away his pain!" Snape sentenced harshly before adding. "You're the corner stone of your brother's strength but you should let your brother adjust to the changes. You've got to let him master his new abilities all by himself or he'd never learn."

Even if the aching sensation was literally burning his insides Blaise couldn't bring himself to let his younger brother alone.

"You're not the culprit here." Snape prompted before inquiring. "Why do you keep punishing yourself like this?"

"Draco and I are Malfoys, we never act selfless and yes…we do make mistakes! He can't remember what happened, what he witnessed created a deep trauma inside him. If Draco happens to recover that portion of his memory he'd want to stay as far away from me as possible. But I'm his elder brother, the sole responsible for his actions that's why I've requested to be his legal guardian, to secure myself a permanent place by his side. I just can't live without him!" He finished in between deep sobs and by the time Blaise brought both hands over his moistened cheeks, he realized he'd been crying.

Snape rested one hand against the glass panels of the corridor's window – displayed on the opposite wing where Luna's room was located - and stared emptily at the Aurors stationed right outside her room's door. "Secrets are dangerous things, they can tear you apart. You, that girl and your brother, the three of you have been keeping secrets from each other: you've all been living a lie. It's about time you'd realize the pain that can be caused by disguising the truth. One thing is certain: you'd never forget the look of disappointment and betrayal in the eyes of someone you love. No matter what the motive, the depth of hurt would never go away. You don't know the impact of secrets until it's too late…once they're out they can change everything."

**lllllllllllllllllllllllllllll**

**A/N:**

**Let's ****clear out some doubts:**

**Scorpius said:** "A _possible_ future, one in which billions would die because they never understood the importance of things, they never treasured the gift of life or appreciate its blessings and were immersed in their selfishness. They'd die just for being humans but none of them would ever lean to be grateful because no-one would survive."

**In ****CHAPTER 36 ****there's a view to Draco's future reflected in Scorpius' memory and how Luna's suicide affected Draco's sanity completely: **_"Luna, I've given myself completely to you and I loved you…the only way I knew how. I've done everything in my power to make things better for you and for the citizens of the Wizardry World but it wasn't enough…it's never enough. I'm done giving. If you people can't appreciate what I've done so far, then I'd take it all away. It's not after losing everything that one understand the importance of things." _

**I want to believe you all get it by now why Scorpius went back in time to prevent things from happening the way they once did. Luna's suicide triggered Draco's hatred that made him charge against the whole Wizardry World….annihilating it…**

**BUT (Yes, it's a big "BUT") Scorpius couldn't stop Lucius from kidnapping Luna in the end…so Lucius cast a jinx that bewitched Luna's eyes making Draco believe that she doesn't love him (when in fact she does love him)…Lucius breaks Luna's and Draco's Lifespan Seals unleashing slowly Draco's Dark Side (temporarily contained by Scorpius' Swastika Charm)…with the passing of the months the charm wore out… if Luna almost kills Draco is because she wanted to extract Draco's Dark Magic sadly she confirms it's something Draco can't live without…. Blaise saves Draco's life sacrificing almost every spec of his magic…despite Blaise is not immortal he's a "Justified" one and has the capacity to regenerate his magic whenever he kills a darkened/cursed bastard…. so Draco would now regain his magic through a slow and painful process but what kind of magic would that be?....all you know so far is that he'd be more powerful than before but…is that a **_**good**_** or **_**bad**_** thing???**

**SOME OF ****SCORPIUS' TIME&SPACE TAMPERING CONSEQUENSES ****(FUCK-UPS…OR WISE-MOVES??): **

***Draco came back DIFFERENT after Scorpius saved his life and give him that "psychic kiss" – originally meant to encourage Draco to complete the curse of the Red Threads of Destiny - but consequently broaden Draco's psyche & magic and made him able to perform wandless Imperious Curses… ****but also made him forget the most important memories that he shared with Luna: when they first met, their first kiss, their wedding, the times he made love to her…**

***Scorpius implanted a vital memory inside Draco's mind, the one that made Draco witness how Luna took her own life. That made Draco cast a permanent mirroring charm to be him and not Luna the one who'd experience the horrific nightmares from Hell (visions of Scorpius' true origins) enduring sleepless nigths ****to secure that Luna's pregnancy would be carried to term (and last nine whole months). It also made Draco come up with the resolution to give Luna more space (and not suffocate her) waiting like a saint for her to come to him…****which ended up drifting Luna and Draco more and more apart to the point that Draco doesn't even remember the last time (neither the previous times) he and Luna had sex…**

*******Scorpius warned Luna to find a way so that Draco would stop loving her (so that he didn't have a reason to wipe out all humanity in case he happened to lose the one he loved) and Luna did find a way…practically murdering Draco if Blaise hadn't saved Draco's life.... ****But how exactly did Blaise saved Draco's life? (That would be revealed in the next & last 2 chapters)**

***In order to nurture his human side Scorpius channeled his Dark Magic with his father's in a moment when Draco was REMOTELY ready for it. It wasn't what I'd call an "abuse" but due to Draco's un-readiness to engage such intense magical interaction the term could somewhat explain why in CHAPTER 26 Draco wakes up with a temporal memory loss and believes he'd been raped:**

His eyes fluttered opened, it had been a rude awakening to reality, blinded by a white hot sensation crawling all over his aching body. Part was pure pleasure, with imprint traces of eager and loving fingers still traveling down his bare skin and part was ripping pain with the burning trail of his still not mended ribs, killing headache and sore back. The swirl of sensations seemed to last forever: ecstasy blended with agony, it was maddening. A shiver ran up his spine threatening to rend him in two as Draco forced himself to his feet, lifting his battered humanity from a dried pool of muddy rain water.

Looking utterly confused, the Slytherin kept staring at his surrounding. His gaze was dizzy and distant. His blond hair was stuck clammily to his skull, his damped white button-less shirt and pants were stuck to his flesh like a second skin wrapping his bones. His chest rose to take in breath, but that simple act burned his lungs as every sense woke up and tried to made out what was going on, the distant shadows around gave him the oddest sense of déjà vu.

As he was trying to pull himself together and remember what had just happened to him, the cold breeze hit his soaked skin menacingly. _"Hell isn't supposed to be this cold, is it?"_

Draco hugged himself, wrapping his arms around his skinny frame, shrugging. He was disorientated and as he tried to make sense of it all inside his troubled mind he felt completely lost.

"_What happened to me? My clothes are all torn, my whole body aches and burns, I can't even stand straight on my two feet..."_ Once Draco repaired on the bluish-purple marks of shackles on his wrists, he felt his stomach sinking, imagining the worst.

Tilting his head up, looking at the sky, Draco curled his hands into tight fists and opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out from it, his vocal cords were numbed. Falling onto the ground on his knees, he squeezed shut his eyes, holding back the tears.

He felt his abdominal muscles undergo excruciating uncoordinated contractions. The intense pressure on his stomach forced him to lean forward. He started retching violently, vomiting the little content his narrowed stomach held inside.

Shortly after that Draco started losing touch with his own body, as if his surviving instinct was desperately disconnecting everything that was painful inside him, shutting down the physical trauma from taking over his psyche. Despite Draco firmly believed he'd been raped – almost anyone in his situation would have arrived to that same dramatic conclusion - he wasn't going to allow himself fall into despair.

"_I was left for dead."_ Pressing tight his chopped dry lips, he put himself together and lifted himself up from the floor. _"But I'm very much alive."_

**For those who believed that Draco was indeed raped in this chapter let me clarify this: ****DRACO & SCORPIUS DID NOT HAVE SEX. THEY DID SHARE A MOMENT OF DEEP & INTENSE COMUNION BUT NO INTERCOURSE WAS INVOLVED! Nevertheless that doesn't leave out the fact that Draco was left emotionally affected and traumatized by it…and so was Luna after witnessing what happened between the two. **

Yes, I do love Rammstein. (Isn't that obvious?)

(i) Könnt ihr mich fühlen? (German Language): Can you feel me?

(ii) Könnt ihr mich hören? (German Language): Can you hear me?

(iii) Könnt ihr mich sehen? (German Language): Can you see me?

(iv) Dreh dich um (German Language): Turn around.

(v) Für Sie… (German Language): For you…

(vi) …Ich bin Schwierigkeit (German Language): …I am trouble.

(vii) Sag mir, willst Du ihn am Boden seh'n? Willst Du dass er vor Dir kniet? Willst Du dass er vor Dir kniet? (German Language): Tell me, do you want to see him on the floor? Do you want him to kneel before you?

(viii) Willst Du dass er um Gnade fleht? (German Language): Do you want him to beg for mercy?

(ix) Mein Herz brennt… Ich will dass… (German Language): My heart burns… I want you…

(x) Es tut mir leid. (German Language): I'm sorry.

(xi) Schwarze Sonne (German Language): Black Sun.

(xii) Keine sonne die mir scheint. (German Language): No sun shines for me.

(xiii) Meine Ehre heißt Treue! (German Language): My honor is called loyalty!


	40. Chapter 40

**A/N:**

**!!WARNING!!**

**EXPLICIT SEX CONTENT + ****TRAUMATIC SCENES AHEAD**

**40 chapters of suffering ****- ****with all their mad****ness - have taken a big toll on Draco**

**If after reading thi****s chapter you feel confused as Hell…it means that I've managed to get what I wanted from you – to fuck up with your heads - and now you might understand a bit how Draco is feeling right now and what's going through his mind…**

**One more – AND LAST - chapter to go that I foresee it would be extr****eeeeemely long because – believe it or not - the best & worst are yet to come**

**I've heard once a man saying: "I don't have an ounce of imagination that's why I write what I know." I don't have much imagination either but if by **_**imagination**_** you mean **_**delusion**_**, then I do have A LOT of imagination. I write what I know and what I've been through this so-called freak show that's my life...**

****(So) Divinne****

**CHAPTER XL****I**

_If weakness is a wound that no one wants to speak of then "cool" is just how far we have to fall  
I am not immune, I only want to be loved but I feel safe behind the fire wall  
Can I lose my need to impress? If you want the truth, I need to confess…  
I'm not alright, I'm broken inside, broken inside  
And all I go through it leads me to you, it leads me to you  
Burn away the pride, bring me to my weakness 'till everything I hide behind is gone  
When I'm open wide with nothing left to cling to, only you are there to lead me on  
Cause honestly, I'm not that strong…  
And I move, and I move, and I move…closer to you  
I'm not alright that's why I need you._

_(SANCTUS REAL – "I'm Not Alright")_

The sound of breathless pants, strangled moans, heavy grunts and skin slapping skin filled the room as dominance and submission took possession of their bodies - differentiating one from the other but at the same time blurring them in the heat of passion – placing them both in the center of a most lustful carnal feast.

Those two lovers were tightly pressed against each other - their skin felt electrified, every nerve raw and jumping as desire kept rising - liquid heat smeared between them and the hurried pace made the friction beyond overwhelming.

His hands, lips and tongue traveled non-stop back and forth branding, claiming, owning, _possessing_ that exquisite body that opened up for him. His long fingers massaged up and down those silk and slender legs before wrapping himself with them, lifting that docile creature up. The change of position sent deep pulses of pleasure through his bones. He grabbed the back of that thin neck with one hand and pulled closer, with the other he cupped the moisten cheeks and leaked the bittersweet flavor of tears before crushing his sensual mouth against those trembling velvety soft lips, devouring them with ravenous hunger in a deep and tongue twisting kiss. His mouth searched the other's depths until both barely got air to breathe.

He then rocked his hips, grinding and burying himself completely in the tightness and warmth of that divine smooth flesh as his mouth clashed with the other and those two bodies blended together once more.

Unable to stop the trembling, the submissive one encircled both arms around that sweaty masculine torso seeking support – as the pressure inside approach the point of no return – moments before convulsing with a toe-curling orgasm, releasing incoherent high-pitch cries along the way.

He wrapped that limp body tighter against him. He knew he was on the verge of losing it all too but the greedy pleasure he kept amassing from dominating that docile being was so maddening acute that he wanted that moment to last forever and so he delayed his climax as much as possible.

His kisses were hard - with the intention to keep his willing prey fully awake and conscious - and turned then more deep and aggressive and needy and desperate and passionate…and incredibly earth-shaking when his mouth teasingly cooled and soothed with a soft kisses, swirling his tongue around the other.

The warmth of his mouth kept envolving the other - refusing to part - as he continued licking, searching, sucking, biting… at times hurting then soothing again, awaking his lover but also leaving that poor human-being staggered, gasping, longing for more. The unstoppable heat of their bodies kept them burning with a fire so powerful that seemed to have been ignited in Hell itself.

Unexpectedly, his blood-shot eyes started to fill with tears before slamming back in, each time with more intensity and determination, taking that willing flesh deeper and harder…so hard that he could feel the shock-waves in his skull. Those hard pounding strokes were insistent, pitiless and unmerciful. The atmosphere stunk with the salty smell of sweat, a musky fragrance of body fluids and the rusty scent of blood.

It wasn't until he saw the undeniable trust in those sheepish and loving watery eyes in front of him that he gathered the confidence to surpass the last remaining limit. He then pulled out his length completely and slammed back home. He repeated the action again and again and _again_ until he ripped that flesh apart with a fierce, bestial force and the orgasm exploded through him - shaking him from head to foot - tearing a hoarse scream from his throat.

A bolt of blind pain coursed all through the fragile creature's torn and broken humanity the moment its insides got filled with such eruption of hot seed. The distasteful hurtful spasms coursing through it forced that body to arch and contort, destroying the last remaining nerve connection inside when the weight of the dominant lover - convulsing with the aftershocks of ecstasy - came crushing on top.

Blood was everywhere, tainting the plain white sheets with a gory crimson veil.

llllllllllllllllllllllll

"OH MIGHTY GODS!" Draco awoke screaming in panic from that incredibly vivid nightmare, his throat and stomach pulsing with a burning nausea.

His heart was thumping so violently fast that the bed seemed to pick the vibration that was coming from his shivering body. He was bathed in cold sweat and a shameful sticky situation beneath his pajamas pants made him feel even worse.

Producing the metal hairpin that he'd kept hidden all that time under his back, Draco used the sharpened tip to cut the cloth of the manacles but as he peeled the padding of one he discovered that the core of the manacles were made of some sort of metal alloy.

The blond Slytherin cursed under his breath and started to pull hard from the bonds, struggling without caring if his skin was getting all bruised or bled with the friction. He bit his lip and pulled hard until he managed to dislocate both their thumbs and slipped his hands free of the manacles.

After cracking the bones of his fingers back into position the blond blinked twice once he repaired that his wedding ring was missing. He had it on his finger when he arrived at the Hospital.

"_D__id Luna take it while I was sleeping?"_ His hand shook with an uncontrollable tremor but when his steady pulse return Draco looked completely desensitized. _"Fine, have it your way. It's over. I'm done begging."_

Draco shot to a sitting position in the bed. His wounds were starting to get open with the abrupt movement and a sudden dizziness threatened to nail him again onto the mattress but he fought against it and started working on the manacles that secured both his ankles using the hairpin as key. After a few turns he managed to open the locking system of both manacles that restrained his feet.

He welcomed the fact that the drugs in his system were still powerful enough to keep his body from contorting with the excruciating pain he must had been going through without them. Draco never felt that fragile before, but he'd been trained rigorously during the last ten years of his life and he was used to endure almost every kind of physical abuse without allowing the pain to lead him into a black-out.

Once free from those four restraining bonds, he lifted the waistband and peeked underneath his pajamas, it was far worse than he thought.

"_No wonder I felt as if a heavy load…weight had been lifted from me."_ He corrected himself making fun of the situation but once the awkwardness drifted away, the rage erupted from beneath the surface.

It's been indeed _too_ long since the last time his body reacted so lively. That tortuously never-ending abstinence Luna had imposed him had trimmed his prospects to the sole company of his hand to quieting the urges, but that also came to a halt months ago because it ended making him feel…

"_Pathetic__." _He concluded greeting teeth, feeling angry than sorry with himself …he could cope better the situation that way.

Draco then eyed suspiciously a pitcher of water that lied on the side of the small night table and sniffed it. Despite he'd no longer had any magic left and his enhanced abilities granted by the Ghoul's powers were also gone, he still could recognize perfectly if that water had been drugged or poisoned with a quick sniff.

After confirming it was just water – with no traces of any poison or drugs – he held a glass with a trembling pulse, filled it and drank from it thirstily. His mouth was so dry that it felt almost dusty. But after a few swallows, the sick feeling on the pit of his stomach came back to haunt him.

He couldn't quite grasp the difference between what he'd dreamt and reality, but the room he was in looked exactly like the one in his dream and despite he'd been fully medicated he still could feel the imprints of foreign sensations crawling up his body.

"_I can't remember what happened __during those hours I've lost conscience shortly after entering the hospital with Luna…but my skin… there's this scent impregnated all over me... and it's not …definitely not mine…and it's not Luna's either... it smells like someone else's scent." _Draco's pupil dilated in full, he lost grip of the glass and it fell from his hand, smashing onto the floor.

"_Shit, I'm getting way too sensitive. __I want you. I want you now__. Relax. I won't hurt you, I swear."_

"_No. Blaise, don't do this. I'm getting really sick. Get off me."_

Closing against his will his left pearl-gray eye shut – he hadn't removed the patch from his right eye – the blond Slytherin's face contorted with remembered shame and sorrow, sinking himself again in the middle of a nightmare that with the passing of the minutes seemed more and more real.

Shaking his head violently in denial, Draco curled his skinny body, hugging himself tightly. _"No, he couldn't. I trust in him with my life, he'd never…"_

But what if that nightmare wasn't a nightmare at all? What if it was reality and that reality existed with the intention to destroy the little that survived in him? Wrapping both arms around his head, he started rocking himself back-and-forth as some fainting words started to resound past his ears:

"_I'm guilty of charge, yes! I want you…I want to fuck you __so__ badly! God knows I'd give __anything __to make you mine! I might have outbeaten death but I feel so fucking empty inside. I want you to give in once and for all and make my heart beat again!"_

Pressing both hands over his ears – as if wanting those voices inside his head to stop talking – Draco hunched over and curled into a ball. At that moment he had lost grasp of his own life, he'd been not only deprived of his magic but also of his own humanity. He was a wizard no more, a man no more_. _He'd been reduced to a mere sack of flesh and bones…a_ thing._

"_Why? Blaise…__WHY?! How could you do this to me? How could you step over my feelings and my choices and use me like that? Haven't you learned anything in all these twelve years we've been together?! I've always looked up to you and treated you as my equal. I've given you everything I've got: my respect, my trust, my blood…even my fortune! Is that what I've been reduced to… just a thing to get you off? Something that by breaking and dominating makes you believe you're strong? I couldn't even fight back for I was already broken but I guess it didn't matter if I was breathing either with your greed and selfishness blinding you!"_ He whimpered.

The second he eyed at the forgotten sticky situation underneath his pajamas, part of Draco wanted to throw up, other wanted to put an end with his own life and another part was busy analyzing the situation, trying to figure out the best way to handle it as Blaise's voice came again back to haunt him:

"_Yes, that's it. Feel it, it's in here.__ The craving, the need, the hunger… they're all inside you eager to come out."_

A lighting of rationality struck Draco when his broad knowledge of anatomy alerted him that a young male body could react like that when subjected to a non-consensual sexual activity. The fact that he came in that nightmare didn't exactly mean that he enjoyed it…it was a reaction motivated by panic rather than pleasure. Plus there was another factor weighting against him: the complete lack of contact with another body for over seven months contributed to the perfect mix for disaster.

Draco wanted to cry out, but no sound emerged from his lips. He felt helpless, he knew there was no way out of that situation, there was no way to take it back…there was no solution either. He'd lost everything, his feelings included except for the shame that dug deeper inside him and most definitely will go further until he'd lost completely control of himself and never regain his senses back again. The emptiness he was experiencing had never been so accented and his paranoia had never been stronger as the sense of being watched, studied, controlled, dominated and invaded got even more acute inside his head.

Draco lifted himself from the bed abruptly, feeling desperate, without repairing on the numbness of his legs that sent him crushing onto the floor. He pressed his open palms against the cold surface of the immaculate white ceramic floor, pushing his upper body up and – shooting into a sitting position – he rested his back against the wall.

He grabbed his head between his two shaking hands and clenched his fists to stop his hands from trembling. His fists were clenched so hard his knuckles were white._ "That fucker ran those psychic and physical tests on me not only to confirm that I've got no magic left but because he was planning on raping me later! He did it to cover himself up and frame Luna in the process, killing two birds with a stone! After he abused me he must have cast some memory charm on me and then tied me up to a bed like a mental patient."_

Draco's body started shaking with sudden convulsions - like when about to throw up - but nothing came up at all, just dry-heaves. _"__No wonder this room is located in Mental's Wing of the Hospital. He had it all figured out, fearing that in case I remembered he'd blame it all to my questionable sanity or even blame it on Luna for what she'd done to me…and she…she wants me dead…she's just as worse as him!"_

After a few minutes he pushed to his feet and managed a few shaky steps but he didn't get far because his knees buckled and he landed on the floor again._ "__I know that I'm not crazy because I know perfectly what I'm saying and someone who knows what insanity is can't be crazy for insanity doesn't know itself. That's why crazy people believe that they're okay when they're not…I know I'm not crazy because I know that I'm not insane!"_

The pain inside his broken soul was so twisting and turmoiled that it became a kind of physical ache no medicine would ever shut it down. He'd been emotionally and mentally tortured by his wife and physically abused by his brother.

His survival instinct screamed out at him that he just had to get away from that place, the sooner the better. He just got to get away from that suffocating room… from that prison of a Hospital…from that world that held no place left for him.

Curling his fists into tight balls, Draco started to perspire even more, clinging to his bitter anger as anchor of his sanity. _"I can't leave Scorpius with those two monsters. I won't let my son grow anywhere near them!"_

Slowly, Draco started to stand. He got to his feet by sheer willpower, and staggered over to lean against the wall. He stood there for a long moment gasping for breath, his heart pounding incredibly hard from the effort.

Draco got rid of the shameful pajamas pants – wincing as he undressed himself while standing up - and those bloody and soaked in sweat bandages that wrapped his body. Noticing that those wounds that stigmatized his body refused to close – leaving aside the fact that once they did they most certainly would leave nasty deep scars - he retrieved a large bottle of alcohol from a handcarved wood and metal first-aid kit box that was on top of the night table and poured it all over himself.

Sinking his face in a pillow to hush his screams he stifled the violent after-effect the liquid made to his open wounds but it was an effective way to clean those deep cuts and wash his body –getting rid of that foreign scent that wrapped his skin in the process - before wrapping his torso, upper arms and forearms again with sterilized bandages he retrieved from that same wood box that probably a nurse had left and use by the time she'd check on him.

He then started to get dressed, retrieving the fresh and clean change of clothes that laid on the chair next to the bed: immaculate white briefs and socks, black pants with matching color long sleeves t-shirt and a dark olive-green shirt. If he planned to get out of that room without getting noticed, he had to be able to blend immediately with those who were visiting an injured family member or friend; he couldn't just storm barefoot dressed only with a soaked pajama's pants and blood stained bandages.

Draco stopped to take a quick look in the mirror that hanged by the side of the door. He pulled out the patch from his right eye and blinked hard a couple of times, but the nasty stinging sensation remained. Once he looked up, he gasped in shock.

His right eye was a just a blank white orb, like a marble cut ball. He'd lost that too, his right eye, and now he was partially blind. He was too stoned and drugged to manifest his anger, besides he couldn't afford to drag attention creating suspicious noises.

When he tried to speak his mouth went dry again. "I'm a handicap…in every sense of the word." He said in a suffocated voice.

The sense of loss threatened to cloud his mental sharpness again:

"_I dare you to do it, sweetheart. I need to know how far you are willing to go. Go ahead. Give me the best you've got."_

Draco rubbed both hands over his face, as if he was trying to scrub away the memory and strangled harshly those hurtful feelings before they could make him lose balance again. But something stuck inside him, that image of him reflected in the mirror manifested an inner and outer reaction.

He knew he had to take the proper time to assess the state of his body, evaluating one by one his limitations. He made several stretching exercises - getting more and more in touch with his upper and lower extremities in the making – with the intention to wake up and test the condition of his muscles. He then started hopping – as if jumping an invisible rope - first with both feet, then alterning one and then the other foot as he tested the strength of his knees. It was a fact that a heavy cocktail of drugs was flowing through his system and that was a _pro_, despite he'd fallen twice on the floor he could barely feel any pain. The _con_ was…

"_My reflexes are __totally screwed."_ He concluded with a dull and dead gaze after repairing on where the hairpin landed after he threw it on the air. Draco meant to nail it on the left wood post of the bed's rest, not on the corner of the wooden night-table.

Before retrieving the pin he brushed an open palm over his forehead that came away sparkling with wetness: he'd got fever, probably a natural reaction to the medicine. Trouble was that he didn't know it was a good or a bad thing because the heat burning underneath his skin was starting to feel unnatural. Draco eyed at the water pitcher again, grabbed it with both hands and emptied the whole content – about a liter - in just a few long gulps, calming temporarily his thirst.

While balancing the metal hair-pin between two fingers Draco took position on the bed's rest – scarce five or six feet from the target – he then steadied his pulse and threw it on the air. He counted the times he missed with resentment before getting it right. On the fourteenth attempt he finally made it: the pin got nailed on the center of the bed's left wood post. He then tried other targets, further distances, concentrating, steadying his pulse every time and making the best he could with his partial sigh and – to his delight – he didn't miss a target again. But Draco knew the crash-training wasn't over, not until he got it right the way he wanted.

He grabbed the glass pitcher with his left hand and threw it on the air – the glass practically brushing the hard surface of the wall as the pitcher pivoted following a half-circle trajectory before hitting ground – but it never touched ground because the pin passed right through the one and a half inches diameter of the handle's hole before getting stabbed onto the wall and the pitcher got hanged from it, balancing from the pin, completely undamaged.

His face darkened and his left pearl-gray eye flashed eerily._ "It's my time now to show you the best I've got left, sweetheart." _

And that was when Draco started reprogramming himself from inside out, shutting out his negative and powerless attitude into an effective self-protective mode. The look of trapped animal in Draco's eyes switched immediately to a trance-like stare - as if immersed in a spaced-out state – and his fixed and tense facial muscles relaxed completely into an emotionless mask.

After pocketing the metal hairpin and his wand on his pants – despite the fact he could no longer use it, he refused to let go of it - Draco inspected closely the room in search for another useful weapon. He missed his pocket knife but probably Blaise had took that away from him too, just like everything else...but there was no time for regrets, he'd got to plot his escape.

His pale lips curled with a shadow of a smirk once he repaired on the straight and long steel curtain rod bar. Without wasting another second he got up on a chair, pulled the bar from the rings, peeling it from the curtains and jumped onto the floor clenching tight from that cold steel bar as if his life depended on it...which unfortunately was the case. He peeked outside of the now curtain-free window and saw that the sun was slowly rising in the horizon.

Draco twisted his head around until his neck popped while balancing the steel bar – about eight feet length and two inches diameter - feeling it's weight and measures with his right hand. Surprise, speed and smoothness of execution were essential if he wanted to succeed in his task. Confident enough, he walked intently towards the door.

An insane frown crossed his forehead; a vein was already throbbing by the side of his temple. _"I'm coming to get you, son."_

The second that door opened, a back hand slap clashed against the incredulous face of one of the guards assigned to watch Draco's room. The blond Slytherin shifted his body and whipped his hips in an almost simultaneous action - ensuring that his full body weight accompanied the same for maximum effect - before the back of his left hand and forehand landed on the man's face. Such impact left the guard relatively unharmed but in a temporary altered state of consciousness and slightly red faced. When the man cast a stunning spell at Draco, the blond stepped back, swinged his body outward while bending his knees slightly – as the lighting spell passed above Draco's shoulder - and used the bar to strike the man's legs, bringing his attacker to the floor.

A burning pain assaulted Draco's body with no mercy, he let go an angry raw scream but didn't stop on his march. Immersed in his adrenaline-fueled rampage Draco lunged fearlessly against the second and third guard. When those wizards meant to point their wands at him, Draco used the bar to hit the men's hands – sending the wands flying in the air - and swinged his right foot on the second guard's knee, taking the man's balance off. Without giving time for that man to react, the Slytherin produced the metal hairpin from his pocket and threw it on the air. The pin got nailed on the wall, splitting in half the wand of that wizard. Once the guard turned to look at Draco a second time a needles-and-pins sensation washed him over before Draco retrieved his hand from the man's neck after pressing a sensitive point on the back of his skull.

As the third guard – who'd accio his wand seconds before – stretched his arm towards Draco, the blond adopted a concentrating posture and swinged his left feet back at the same time he struck the wizard's forearm with the bar, sending the wand to the floor. The Slytherin then raised his left hand to intercept the punch the man meant to throw at him and turned his skinny body parallel to his attacker by pivoting on the tip of his left foot - as his right foot performed simultaneously a semi-circle – and grabbed the upper part of the wizard's arm and wrist it down, kicking the nerve center of the man's knee with his right foot Draco sent the man crushing onto the floor.

"_Three down, two to go."_ He said to himself after making full spin, avoiding getting caught in a restraining spell.

Waving the steel bar alternatively with both hands – making figures in the air that resembled eights as he balanced alternatively the bar on either sides of his body – Draco made a lighting-fast move and with the tip of the bar struck the side of the fourth guard's neck. Despite the blow had been a violent one, it left the man temporally unconscious for Draco didn't apply that much force to severe any nerve connection of the wizard's spine, he'd just squeezed the nerve enough to provide the man a good sound sleep.

The fifth guard had been no threat for Draco in his good old days - when he could use magic - but now he was turning into something more threatening than Voldemort. Eventhough the blond managed to dodge the stunning spells that wizard cast as if he were a cat - with the graceful movements of his hips and incredible flexibility of his skinny frame - Draco found himself cornered. That wizard was blocking the only exit of the corridor. He was standing right on the bottom of the stairs and Draco had no option but to retreat…just to gather enough distance to make a running start.

Grabbing the bar tighter than ever, Draco leveled it horizontally against his body and seconds before his last stride he switched position adjusting the bar vertically and stabbed the bar on the floor and took off the floor, propelling himself forward in the air as he did a vertical jump and – shooting a flying kick, stamping one foot on the man's face - he landed on his bent knees on the rest of the stairs that lead to the upper floor, leaving that injured guard behind.

After leaving the five guards unable to move on the lower floor, Draco pulled his long fringe over his blind eye and lifted his head up. His face contorted in a wild grimace, his whole body was aching for the effort.

"Who's the handicap now, hmm?!" Draco laughed, his voice had a hoarse hysterical edge.

The blond Slytherin then pocketed both hands on his pants and started walking fast along that corridor looking as casual as possible, blending himself with some of the people that were there visiting a patient.

"Mommy! Mommy! It's the man in the newspaper! Look, he's right there!" Draco heard the voice of a little girl calling out just a few feet away from him.

When the blond Slytherin turned over his shoulder he saw the small girl pulling from her mother's cloak with insistence as she pointed with her free hand towards him. The woman lifted her gaze from the newspaper front page and stared at Draco with a mixture of admiration and confusion.

Draco missed a beat when he caught a glimpse of the Daily's Prophet front cover:

READERS' POLL CLOSED! 72% WOULD VOTE DRACO MALFOY FOR MINISTER OF MAGIC! WOULD HE AGREE TO POSTULATE HIMSELF NOW?

There was a large black and white photo of Draco taken a couple of months ago when he attended at Hogwarts for his final exams. In the moving caption Draco was walking right behind Blaise, who was waving both hands at the photographers in a fair attempt to stop them from taking more photos of his younger brother. Draco looked beyond pissed with the whole situation, his bony and pale face denoted a rising anger but he kept his head down and didn't look up, not once. His long fingers were clenching nervously tight from Blaise's shoulder as he sheltered himself behind his elder brother from the frantic attack of the flashes and the harassment of the mass of reporters stationed at the entrance of Hogwarts. In response to the many questions that were being thrown at him, the blond Slytherin limited to shake his head with a harsh negative motion.

Draco swallowed hard, his stomach sank the second the news hit him. Before the woman had the chance to open her mouth Draco spun on his heels and speeded up his pace. He was walking without any sense of direction, passing by corridors, climbing endless stairs, opening and closing doors behind him until - as if by guided by a sixth sense - he saw the exact moment when a nurse halted on the door of a room and called out:

"Mr. Malfoy! It's your brother…he… He's not in his room!"

Draco found himself unable to move as indecisiveness, desperation, impotence and a sudden dizziness got him nailed in his standing position with his fists clenched and his shoulders trembling. _"Blaise is inside that room…this means that Luna and Scorpius are in there too."_

Once he checked the number of the room Draco hid himself behind a column and narrowed his eyes with a painful frown; his mouth was so dry that he couldn't even swallow. _"Am I doing the right thing by denying my son so many things for my selfish sake? We'd have no money. Without my magic I can't get thought the Chateau's magical protection wall charms less open the secret combination of the safe in my study and if I happen to retrieve one single coin from the Malfoy's vaults at Gringotts Bank Blaise would track me down immediately." _

Draco closed shut his eyes, fear and shame were eating up his mind_. "What am I going to do if I succeed and take Scorpius away from this hospital_?_ How are we going to make it in the world of the muggles? How am I going to raise my son in poverty… as an outcast? What would happen once his magic awakes in a world that is remotely prepared for such kind of manifestation?" _

He rubbed nervously his closed eyelids and bit his lip to prevent from screaming his impotence out loud. _"How am I going to tell Scorpius that his father is a Squib? Would my son grow up hating me?"_

A cold sweat broke off bathing his body from head to toe, soaking his bandages and t-shirt. He could felt his palpitations resounding past his ears, numbing completely his sense of hearing. The vision of his left eye started to come in-and-out of focus. The splitting headache was so acute that it made him believe his skull was indeed breaking in two pieces.

"_I've got to hide__. Now that they know I've escaped they'd come chasing after me." _Wrapping both arms around his head he run towards the opposite end of the corridor and pushed with the side of his body a door that swinged open.

Once inside that small storage room – filled with cleaning products – Draco rested his back against the wall and let himself slide onto the floor before curling into a tight ball. The kind of heat Draco was experiencing resembled the one of an insect exposed under a magnifying glass shortly before getting burned by the rays of the sunlight. The suffocating oppression was such that he couldn't even stand the fabric of his clothes. The blond unbuttoned his shirt, took it off and used it to dry his dripping forehead and back of his neck. He then pulled from his black t-shit and unstuck it from under his pant's waistband. The urges to get naked and roll on the cold marble of the floor beneath him – to ease the heat under his skin – almost win him over but the idea of removing another item of clothing fired up a sickening sensation as well:

"_Draco, you feel so damn good. I can't wait any longer. Here and now I've got to make you mine."_

"_Stop__! __Don't touch me!"_

"_Now get ready to experience the most __inhibited sexual experience of your life!"_

The walls of his abdomen squeezed and twisted as the sickening sensation pushed its way up to his throat and Draco retched to vomit. He emptied the content of his narrowed stomach – mostly bile - inside a dustbin he found just in time behind some brushes and broomsticks.

Gagging from the after-effects of throwing up so violently and from the shameful feeling that crawled through his body with suffocating oppression Draco tilted his head up and squeezed his eyes tight. _"The person I brought back is not Blaise…this is my fault... I made him the way he is now."_

The blond Slytherin was angry and confused and so ashamed. Part of him knew that it hadn't been his fault for he had a hard time believing that by saving Blaise's life he'd endorsed such kind of abuse. But at the same time, when thinking about Luna and the fight they both had the previous night… it all made click inside his head.

"_I didn't save any of them. I've lost them both and they've turned into my worst enemies." _Draco blew a puff of air, there was a dark mocking smirk curling his trembling velvety lips._ "Now that the Ghoul's powers are so latent inside Luna, that bitch won't stop until she kills me. On the other hand Blaise's magic had improved to such level that there's no limit to what he can do now. He might not want me dead, but he always wanted to dominate me. What better way to do it than now that I can't use my magic to defend myself? That fucker, he didn't give me an opportunity to fight back. He abused me while I was unconscious…there are no words for that kind of cowardry."_

Draco then rolled up the sleeve of his black t-shirt started scratching his right wrist – still all bruised from the manacle – with insistence for it was burning and itching. But the stinging didn't stop, on the contrary, the more he scratched his fingertips over his skin the more urges he felt to dig his nails into his skin. He actually wanted to peel all his skin off. He not only couldn't stand how it felt his clothes over his body but because he could felt the dirt beneath his skin.

Lifting his right hand up, the blond examined it keenly with his left eye repairing on the strange rash encircling his wrist like a bracelet. Such kind of manifestation hadn't been left by the manacle because with the passing of the minutes it looked more like the traces of a tattoo than the bruises inflicted for rubbing his wrist hard against the manacle.

Inspecting up close those traces on his wrist with his good eye, Draco recognized the Geomantic figures of that enchantment that was now branding his skin for he had seen it before when Blaise cast that protective shield around him before confronting Voldemort. The symbol that was most repeated was _Puer _or_ The__ Sword _the strongest of the sixteen Geomantic figures for it was the one who has all the natural elements active except for water - who remained passive – for _Puer _was ruled by Mars which was the elemental of fire.

"_Puer is primarily __aggression__ and war and passion. It represents the male energies. It stands for __male sexuality__...the erect phallus…this is..." _The blonde's heart missed two beats and his eyes opened wide._ "A sexual binding curse?!" _

The blond Slytherin wanted to scream, he stamped his forehead against the wall and started scratching the skin furiously around his wrist - sinking his nails on his skin, making it bleed - tears of fury started to fall from his eyes. _"How could he do this to me too? Blaise knew how much I've fought top get rid of the Dark Mark's stigma and procure my own freedom and everything I've sacrificed to so that I won't get enslaved again! Now that he'd marked me as his no matter how far I run, he'd always know where to find me!" _

Those words struck inside Draco's head with a double hurtful meaning:

"_Luna, you and me, we are the same. You are no longer in control of our actions when it comes to me, neither am I. The monster in you is fed by me and it won't stop until you destroy it. If you want to leave me then all you've got to do is kill me because I refuse to let you move on without me. If you don't stop me now I'll chase after you and you know I'll find you, I'd always find you!"_

Draco shook his head twice, as if to clear it, but no to avail as a memory of Blaise flared in his mind:

"_Don't fool yourself Draco, you and me are two drops of water. You won't accept the fact that when you look at me, you're faced up against your own faults and wrongdoings."_

Punching both his fists on the wall, the blond Slytherin let go a chocking sob. _"I'm trapped, dammit! I've got no means to stand up against Blaise's magic. I'd rather kill myself than let him get near me again but…what would become of Scorpius then?!"_

Droplets of blood started to fall from his bleeding wrist; encircling the long fingers of his other hand around it Draco spun his head to the side in search for something to stop the bleeding. It had been foolish try to rip his flesh, probably chopping his hand off he'd be free of that curse, but despite such extreme measure crossed his mind it'd make things worse for him for it'd left him even more handicapped than he already was. He couldn't continue to hide in there because with the passing of the minutes it became more and more dangerous for him to remain in one secluded place, he'd got to move…but where?

First things first, he'd got to clean the wounds he'd inflicted on his wrist. Pushing with the side of his back the doors open he rushed to the nearest bathroom – just a short stride of eight feet - and started washing his hands with a bar of soap obsessively. Draco couldn't help himself…the physical impression of uncleanness made him feel as if he was slowly eaten away. He then tilted his head up and splashed soapy water over his sweaty face, rubbing it nervously fast and hard too, refraining to stop to look at his blind eye because that sight made him feel even more nauseated. He then tore a piece of his shirt and wrapped a stripe of cloth around his wrist before throwing the useless shirt inside a dustbin and pulled down the long sleeve of his black t-shirt, disguising his wounds.

As conflicting emotions tore at him he controlled them with effort and an ice-cold rationality washed him over when he realized he'd done everything wrong. He shouldn't have left his room so abruptly, exposing himself so recklessly, because that would only strengthen those invisible restrains and turned him into an easy prey.

"_And what?! Pretend that nothing happened?!"_ A harsh voice spitted accusingly inside Draco's head with boiling annoyance. _"I won't stay quiet about this! I'm going to kill the enemies you love, one by one!" _

Draco looked up, both his eyes went wide with a look of terror staring at his reflection on the mirror.

"No…not you…" Draco's voice was barely louder than a whisper.

"_It's been a while..."_ The_ other_ Draco stopped and stared back at the blond Slytherin. _"Too long I must admit since I can barely recognize myself." _He concluded, trailing his index finger past his blind eye.

His counterpart licked his pale lips and opened his mouth like he was going to say something else but before he could speak Draco cut him sharply.

"_You _should be dead! I've got no magic left, of _any_ kind, therefore you can't exist!" Draco's voice was low and controlled, but panic boiled just under the surface. "You've started haunting me since the day I performed the Inferae Pact to save Luna's life!"

Something dangerous slid through his counterpart's blind eye that made Draco step away from the mirror a pace out of pure instinct.

"_I'm disappointed to find out that you still haven't learnt a bloody thing."_ The _other_ blonde's eyes focused on Draco's face for a long time before adding. _"I'm not a creation of your Dark Magic but a manifestation of your psyche." _

"Oh Merlin…" Draco's voice sounded shaky and breathless and he hated it.

"_No, I'm not him. You're always confusing me with someone else and that's starting to unnerve me…"_ Pausing for an intake of air the _other _blond trailed his index finger up to the side of his temple and started to sing with a hysterical torn voice. _"I'm here. I'm here to stay. I'm here to take care of the mess you've made."_

Once Draco repaired that his own hand was actually the one trailing with his index finger the side of his temple he panicked.

"_Which one, which one of you is in to me? Which one, which one of me is in to you?__" _The _other _blond laughed and continued singing but the emptiness in his gaze chilled Draco completely.

A loud noise - followed by a furious scream - coming from the other side of the door interrupted abruptly Draco's stream of conscience. When the Slytherin turned to look at the mirror again, his counterpart was gone. Draco then spun his head towards the door and silently and slowly pushed it open, peeking through a small crack.

And that was when Draco caught sight of a girl. She seemed very young and so tiny. She had the body and height of a developing teenager whose bones were still growing but that was only at first sight, she was a petit full grown woman in her early twenties. She was dressed with a white robe and was picking herself slowly from the floor. She was just a couple of feet away from him, on the opposite end of the corridor. The blond blinked twice - trying to adjust his blurry partial vision field - and focused harder on what was going on outside.

The woman's long and damp ink-black hair was pressed against her sweaty face as if it were a mask, making a contrast with the whiteness of her skin and color of her robe…which wasn't a robe but a straight-jacket and she was contorting her skinny body, giggling nervously, trying to set herself free from her restrains. Her breath was coming in ragged pants and her dark eyes were wild and wide with adrenaline. In spite her superficial air of youth, the hardness of her facial features reflected her two long decades of suffering. In the blink of an eye six large-built hospital guards surrounded her.

Despite the fact that he couldn't quite catch her exact words, Draco heard her warning the men not to come any closer or they'll regret it. She sounded serious yet strangely calm and waited for their reply. A second later, the men burst out laughing and started mocking her, waving their wands menacingly at her. Without time to work on loosing the restrains around her upper body the woman lunged savagely against them.

She was remotely fighting like a woman – she resembled more like a wild animal - but the guards weren't fighting fair either. Despite she was outnumbered and she couldn't use her arms, she was making a good use of her long, slender legs and she was awesomely fast.

She looked demonic - grimacing with effort - as she sent flying kicks in the air, connecting them without failing against the bodies of the men as she kept making consecutive somersaults back and forth with incredible ease. She worked the guards expertly, efficiently and mercilessly with a non-stop series of bone-breaking blows shot with her small bare feet.

The first guard received a nasty blow on his temple - a very susceptible vital spot – and because of the lethal and precise way the woman struck it, more than leaving him unconscious she practically left the man braindead.

The blow that hit the second guard landed on the front side of his jaw, snapping his neck. He was dead before his head hit the floor. After receiving a sharp blow on his Adam's apple, the third guard started to asphyxiate and – unable to take a breath again - he collapsed on the floor… also dead.

The life of the fourth guard came to an end as well when the woman's fatal flying kick hit the side of his neck, cutting the supply of spinal fluid to his brain. The moment her knee hit the fifth's guard chest, the powerful blow to the men's heart caused that vital organ to stop functioning immediately and the man dropped flat onto the ground. At last but not least, a vicious shattering kick on the sixth guard's ribs left the man completely incapacitated of movement…and with a fatal internal bleeding.

Draco could perfectly tell that she fought like there was no tomorrow. Whatever made her act the way she did was because she knew there was no hope left for her, not anymore: that's why she fought to kill.

Staring at the corpses of her victims, the woman took a moment to regroup herself and catch her breath, her whole body was shuddering, her face grimacing with visible effort. But a stunning spell that cowardly came from behind her – cast by a seventh guard who stepped into the scene at the very last moment – deprived her tiny body of movement and forced her humanity to hit painfully and soundly against a glass wall that reduced itself in countless fractals with the impact.

Giggling hysterically in her dizzy state, the woman aimed to get up – still woozy – but she was visible worn out and only managed to crawl in agony on the floor, cutting the flesh of her legs and sole of her feet with the glass splinters that were spread beneath her.

"_She looks like her…she moves like her…she giggles like her…"_ A disturbingly insane look took over Draco, making the shade under his eyes grow darker and his alabaster complexion whiter than ever.

Using the sharp edge of what was left of the crystal glass wall's frame the woman took sit on the floor and started rubbing her back against it - working on the many straps of the straight-jacket - trying to cut the confining rough and thick fabric of her prison.

Once she twisted free she whirled around – closing the distance between her and the guard - and kicked the man in the knee. The man went down, clutching painfully from his leg. She could see the firm determination reflected in the wizard's eyes. He lifted his wand towards her and she knew that was it…he was going to kill her and that knowledge sent a thrill through her bones.

"Today's a good day to die." She arched playfully one eyebrow and made a faint giggle.

"I guess those are going to be your last words." The wizard copied her dark amusement and smiled back, it was obvious that she already lost it completely.

"Guess again…" A harsh, hoarse voice warned from behind.

Draco grabbed forcefully the guard's wrist before the man could turn around and twisted his arm up behind his back forcing the guard to drop his wand. The blond expected his prey to struggle, or kick or something, but he didn't. The man went perfectly still in the Slytherin's grip and that confused Draco for a split second. He then let go the limp body fall on the floor and noticed that a piece of glass was stuck on the guard's throat.

"I was talking about him. It's a good day for _him_ to die." She spitted angrily as she struggled to pick herself from the floor.

Draco could felt his breath hitching in his chest. He tried to speak but couldn't bring himself to.

When Draco's pearl-gray left eye met the woman's piercing gaze the air suddenly crackled. "What were you trying to do kid…besides getting yourself killed?"

At those words Draco lowered his gaze shamefully. Remembering his manners, he started kicking the glass fractals from the floor. Surprise showed on her face as she remained standing still, watching Draco making her a clean path for her to walk. Draco saw in her face that she wanted to ask him why he was doing that for her.

"That's the least I can do for you." He replied with a constricted voice, trying not to feel _that_ useless.

Something struck inside the woman's mind the moment she heard the sound of Draco's voice, she recognized that voice, and it sounded familiar to her. She brushed back her ink-black long hair away from her face and when her gaze fixed intently on the Slytherin's face a second time and her dark eyes met his, old memories came back to her.

"Malfoy?" She stopped as her heart made a sudden jump inside her chest and took the pause to clear her dusty throat.

The blonde's shoulders straightened immediately and lifted his gaze from the floor.

"Draco Malfoy..." Her chopped lips started to curl into a trembling smile. "What are the odds?"

"Hello Alecto." He tried to sound calm, though his pulse was rising.

Her smile – denoting the happiness she felt when recognizing who he was - was so heart-breaking sincere that Draco had to stop himself from trimming the distance between them and hold her in his arms, crashing her tiny body against him in an endless hug. But everything came back to him then in a sickening rush, it felt like a punch in the guts. The idea of physical contact with another body brought back the pain and the sickness and the fear…and the burning sense of hatred.

"It's been…" She paused and wrinkled her nose in a deep pensive manner, forcing herself to remember the last time she'd seen him.

"_A year, __ten months, two weeks and four days since the last time I saw you but who's counting..."_ Draco said to himself, by then his pulse was flapping as fast as the wings of a hummingbird.

Clearing his throat, he finally replied. "I'd say it's been _too_ long since the last time we saw."

"You look…" She leaned forward and studied his pale face with an intensity that made Draco's complexion turn whiter and sicker.

Swallowing hard, Draco feared her next words. She had paused a bit too long to stare at his - unsuccessfully disguised by a couple of silk blond long blocks - blind eye.

"…a bit older in spite of that baby face of yours." She finished with a wicked giggle.

A faint snort-like sound escape through Draco's half-closed lips, he'd forgotten how Alecto mastered to dissolve the awkwardness of almost every situation.

The blond crossed both arms over his chest and smirked flirtatiously. "Are you paying me a compliment?"

After blowing softly his fringe away from his eyes – silently saying that he didn't need to hide himself anymore, at least not from her - she inquired with a dark grin. "So…you're letting it grow to compensate for the lack of facial hair or because you've made a promise to cut if off after your first shave?"

Draco sighed soundly this time. Another typical thing about Alecto was that she'd never miss an opportunity to remind Draco about the five years gap between them whenever she could. It was an unconscious necessity of hers to build up walls and set limits between them in spite of her deep affection for him…or maybe because of it.

He stopped to caress with resentment his smooth chin for a moment before combing with one hand his silk blond blocks away from his face, getting a hair-cut was the last thing in his mind. "No matter how much it takes it'd never grow long enough for you to reach it, Shorty."

"No fair." She pouted teasingly. "How am I going make you meet my face if I can't pull from your hair?"

Draco's repressed emotions unleashed all at once, his feelings for her were unmistakable. "Why do you think I've always insisted on holding you up in my arms?"

For a moment, confusion shone in Alecto's gaze but it quickly disappeared when a shadow passed over her eyes turning her gaze distant.

"It was because I wanted you to see things from _my _point of view for a change!" Before the last word was out of his mouth Draco cursed under his breath, he could not afford to lose himself in that kind of feelings.

Alecto's smile faded slowly and she remained silent for a bit_ too _long and Draco knew she wasn't going to answer to that.

Coming back to his senses Draco gestured to the bleeding lump on her forehead. "You are badly hurt."

"It's… it's nothing. I've got my body broken worse…a lot worse. Besides, this is just flesh and bones and blood prone to decay and rot. I'm not my body. It doesn't belong to me but to mother-earth. It's wormwood…that's what it is…that's what it'd always been…" She groaned uncertainly clamping her hands over her temples in pain, that stunning spell had left her a bit disorientated.

The blond Slytherin then pointed his hand towards the bathroom's door. "There's no-one there. I've already checked it out."

"I'd better get rid of the evidence." Draco said to Alecto while dragging the first of the many dead bodies towards a small storage room located at the end of the corridor.

Alecto opened her mouth so say something but closed it shut immediately. An ice-cold sensation crawled down Draco's spine, it was as if he could feel that she wanted to ask him why he was carrying the bodies instead of using a simple levitating spell to take care of the matter.

After a short silence she nodded at Draco's suggestion and accio the guard's wand, with a fast flick of her right wrist she pointed it at the crystal glass wall. "Reparo!"

Once Draco finished stuffing the bodies on the small room he could barely managed to close the door shut. He pushed hard and broke the locking system so that it wouldn't open by itself and kept its content away from the public's view. He turned to check on Alecto, but she wasn't on the corridor. He knocked the bathroom's door three times, waited a brief moment and stepped inside.

"I'm on my way out from this place too so the less people see me, the better for me." He then muttered something else under his breath, apologizing for his intromission, but giving his back at Alecto…giving her _some_ privacy.

After finishing washing and combing back her ink-black long wet hair she arranged it in a neatly tight bun and peeked at the blond from the corner of her eye. "This is the men's loo. I'm the one who shouldn't be here."

Draco let go an unheard sigh of relief. Alecto had always been remotely nosy, she respected people's privacy and if someone confided her with a secret she'd take it to her grave… literally.

"Draco, why are you standing on that corner for? I don't remember punishing you for anything…yet." She found herself adding with an amused giggle.

Draco's left pearl-gray eyes flicked curiously in her direction, seemed that she'd managed to transfigurate the fabric of the white straight-jacket into a more suitable set of clothes. Alecto was now dressed with a long white tank top that fit like a short dress over her tiny and slim body. A folded drawstring cotton pants and a pair of cloth-made shoes – that resembled ballerina's dance shoes - rested by the side of the sink.

It was the first time he'd seen her dressed with so little. Alecto always used to cover herself from neck to toe with dark and long sleeved clothes. Maybe it was the way she used to dress when she was his teacher.

Draco froze when he repaired on the fact that her milk-white skin got several threaded nets of grayish lines – remains of old scars – spread all over her body. After drying her armpits with a towel, Alecto stopped humming under her breath and turned to face him. Draco was staring at her with such misery in his eyes, every muscle in his body was tense and trembling.

"Do you know why there's hardly anyone in the men's loo while the women's loo is always full?" She asked, breaking the uncomfortable silent between them, it was as if she wanted Draco to think about something else besides her scars.

Draco rumiated over the question for a while before answering pitifully. "No, I don't know."

"Me neither." She shrugged innocently and hopped over the sink, splashing soapy water over her slender legs and feet - washing away the blood from the cuts - as we perform some silent healing charms over her battered skin.

Draco made another snort-like sound. Approaching her cautiously, he leaned against the edge of sink - scarce two feet from where Alecto was sited - and asked quietly. "May I ask why you've ended in here?"

"You mean why at St Mungo's Mental Wing and not at Azkaban?" She joked darkly, her jaw clenched nervously tight the moment she retrieved another splinter of glass from the sole of the left foot.

The Slytherin closed briefly his eyes, cursing under his breath for being so insensitive but once again Alecto's dark humor came to the rescue.

"Let's say I've given a pretty convincing performance and fool everyone during my trial. They firmly believed that I was mentally unstable and couldn't differ what was right from what was wrong so I wasn't responsible for my actions. That's why they come with the resolution that instead of _punishment_ I should receive _therapy_. I mean…come on! As if those two concepts weren't the exact same thing and this hospital wasn't a prison! People end up crazier in here rather than at Azkaban but in this place the security is a lot easier to breach." She finished with a sharp and jagged laugh.

Draco found himself laughing hysterically too. Without a doubt Alecto was weird and thrilling and carried a heavy emotional baggage, just like him: everything between them clicked perfectly.

"Sanity is the weakest instrument of warfare." He found himself saying out loud.

Alecto chewed her bottom lip, she looked surprised. "You do remember it."

"I remember everything you ever said to me: you taught me how to survive." Draco confessed and stared at her with gratitude plastered on his pale face but then he got serious. "I've quoted your words in an interview I've given for The Quibbler seven months ago. I was hoping after you read it you'd get in touch with me. You're a better tracker that I and I never stopped leaving you signs here and there for you to find me but I take it that you're not a subscriber of that magazine otherwise…"

Draco was about to say something else when he repaired for the first time on how the brightly illuminated room emphasized the white color of her cotton tank top, making it practically see-through. Alecto was clearly unconscious of the effect of the light, but Draco felt it intensely when he found out that she wasn't wearing a bra. Embarrassment flooded him, heat rushing to his cheeks.

Impulsively Draco brought both hands over his sweaty forehead and combed back his damp silk blond blocks away from his face. It wasn't until his back hit the wall that he realized he'd been unconsciously backing up, away from her.

"You okay?" Alecto couldn't help feeling worried and he gave her a look that clearly said he wasn't.

"You've abandoned me…" Draco paused when he noticed how rough his breath was coming and sensed how difficult it was for him to hold himself in check. "You've left without saying goodbye."

His words made her feel defensive. "I had nothing left to teach you."

Draco turned his back on her, rested his forehead against the wall and shot back with resentment. "That's _not _true."

For a split second Alecto's coolness and guard dropped drastically but then the walls went back up. "My job was finished."

"That's all you ever think about, your _job_?!" He had kicked the wall so hard with the tip of his boot that he practically knocked a hole in it. If it hurt him, he disguised it when he screamed. "WHAT ABOUT YOU AND THE THINGS YOU WANT?!"

Alecto felt a twinge of anxiety at the thought of Draco's questions. She braced herself to try to answer them without losing her regained balance. "Draco, all I want is a roof under my head, clothes over my bones and a warm plate of food at the end of each day. Having a job provides me all that therefore that's the only thing I can think about."

"_Fuck it all to hell!__ She has to know!"_ Draco muttered under his breath and opened his eyes.

He then turned to face her and pierced Alecto with his stare. "You could have everything you ever wanted if you've been mine!"

Alecto stopped washing her feet on the sink almost instantly and held her breath for a bit longer than she intended to.

"Give me that!" He spitted harshly taking the damp towel and bar of soap from her grip. "Let someone take care of you for a change!"

Draco saw her face twisting with unhappy obedience. Alecto didn't dare to say a word but kept staring at him without blinking. He left the towel on the side of the sink and coated both hands with a thick layer of bubbly soap.

"_I wonder how she'd react when she finds out I'm a Squib..."_ After a long moment of indecision Draco's fingertips made contact with her ankles.

Draco felt a kinetic energy circling between them. Alecto's dark eyes, which had been open, fluttered shut and her lips parted slightly. His touch was delicate yet incredibly sensual. He felt his pulse quicken as he sensed her vulnerability.

He couldn't understand her reaction, maybe a simple touch wasn't enough after all for a wizard or witch to differ if someone had no magic essence within. Despite the sensual exploration – an achingly intimate gesture - that his hands provided to her feet, Alecto didn't recoil an inch, nothing in her body posture betrayed her either and that only managed to fuel Draco's mounting confusion…and excitement.

"I wanted to stay in touch with you." He was breathing hard again, his cheeks flushed. "You never replied my letters."

For a moment Alecto stood still, she then stretched her back and opened lazily her eyes, staring intently at Draco's face. "I was being closely watched and followed by the members of the Order of The Phoenix and doubted…_tested_ by the Dark Lord. The last thing you needed was to be connected with someone like me."

"Someone like _you_? You mean a Death Eater? I was one too!" Draco swallowed hard, fighting a growing anger.

Alecto closed her eyes briefly. "Draco, you perfectly know what I've meant to say."

"No, I don't!" He grunted.

She shook her head. She could feel her automatic nervous giggle fighting to escape through her half-opened lips.

"I'd have taken you far away from everyone and everything, to some place remote where you and I could be together." His voice was low yet dangerously sensual.

Alecto tried to smile but her lips curled painfully, she looked as if she was about to cry.

"I deduct from your silent that you didn't want to run away with me. That's why your answer never came when I pushed the subject." Draco couldn't stop and let out a heartbroken little sob that cut Alecto like a razor. "I needed you in so many different ways..."

Draco opened his eyes when he felt Alecto taking his hand in hers, looking at him with determination in her eyes. "I left you a note at Borgin & Burges after I heard about your mother's death."

Welcoming the physical interaction Draco entwirled his fingers with hers, squeezing her palm against his. Alecto looked at him and this time she managed to reflect her emotions vividly. All the tension Draco felt over his shoulders vanished in unison with Alecto's armor.

"If you're looking forward to avenge her death you shall return to Hogwarts immediately. That's where the downfall of your enemy would take place. Signed A.C." He quoted and looked up. "Yes, I've found and decoded your note. Not the kind of message I was expecting."

"But the one you were needing." She shot back with an accomplice grin. "Did you get my gift as well?"

Draco nodded. "I never parted from it after that day. That pocket knife saved my life on more than one occasion."

"Would you mind borrowing it for a while?" She asked pointing at the glass fractal buried deep on the side of her upper right arm. "It'd be better if I make a clean cut to take it out, otherwise the skin would rip open."

"Last night someone took it out from me." Draco found himself lowering his gaze, afraid to make eye contact with her. "But I'm intending to get it back." He sentenced firmly.

"Why would someone steal a weapon that's useful only to its owner?" She asked out loud to herself after retrieving the glass fractal from her arm – ripping the flesh around the injury - with her face contorting silently with real pain. "I've cast a protection charm on that pocket knife for you only, if someone were to use it to harm you he'd end up getting seriously hurt."

Guiding her arm under the running water, Draco started washing the blood from the open wound. "The one who stole it did it because he wanted to prove he _could _and because he knows it's one of my favourite possessions, not because he meant to use it against me."

After drying her skin with a clean towel Alecto motioned towards one of the many rolls of cloth that rested on top of the drawstring cotton pants for Draco to wrap it around her arm. Once Draco finished making a tight knot to secure the bandages - but also allowing a fluid circulation course through her arm - she gave him an approving wink.

"Your note gave me hope." Draco's sore gaze locked onto hers, his agony practically ripped her open. "All this time you knew."

"Actually, I didn't." Alecto raised one hand to caress his cheek, igniting the raw need in his eyes when she touched him. "I just happen to know you."

"So that's why you left, because you know me?" He tried to control his possessive, dominant emotions, but it was very difficult when he was caressing her skin so intimately.

She took one hand in hers, kissed his palm and laid it against her cheek. Now both have the other's palm pressed against their faces, sharing the same shattered emotions.

"Alecto, have you ever weighted the possibility of us building a future together or was it just me?" It killed her to see the hurt in Draco's face and see him trying so hard to hide it.

Draco stared back into her dark eyes sparkling with tears but there was something else, something he was afraid to put a label to because it would end up hurting him twice as much.

From the corner of her eye Alecto saw Draco's triggering hands working slowly down - caressing the sides of her torso - with apprehension.

"You didn't stay at Hogwarts for long." She said and cupped both his hands in hers, preventing them from lingering where they shouldn't.

Draco released the grip of both her hands and recoiled as if Alecto's question hit him. "I met someone who diverted me momentarily from my goals but who also reminded me of you in many aspects. I think that's why I fell so easily in love with her…or more likely got _obsessed _with her. Lucius was right; she was an obsession because she blinded my senses and my judgment. She made me feel weak and love shouldn't feel that way. Love should make you feel stronger, and focused and confident about yourself…not the other way round."

Twisting the damp towel in between his trembling hands, Draco started retelling without daring to look straight into Alecto's eyes. "I was not only obsessed but also confused. You two had the same unexpected and hilarious way of laughing for no reason at all. The way to two moved, like floating, making impossible to hear the sound of your footsteps because of the delicacy of how you use your petit bodies and move your hips when walking. You two had the same way of wrinkling your noses when thinking about something that momentarily confuse you and when you hum under your breath…I can't start describing how _good_ that makes me feel."

He smirked uncomfortably and leaned his back against the wall. "Whether it was for the wrong or right reasons I ended up marrying her. I thought that was the only way I've got to procure my survival. Everything happened so fast, there was no time to turn back things the way they once were. I hardly knew a thing about her true self but it didn't matter, her few similarities with you did just fine, it made me miss you less that way."

Draco could almost feel Alecto's eyes, filled with painful concern, fixing an unblinking stare at the floor.

Draco looked surprised as well to hear himself saying such a thing but then his inner voice confessed mockingly. _"Yes, you were on the rebound. I've told you that what you felt for Luna was mere infatuation, haven't I? I'm the one who's always right!" _

Coming back to his senses he inquired. "That waltz, the one you were singing earlier, is it _You and You_?"(*)

Alecto looked completely puzzled, as if Draco had just asked her something in a foreign language or as if she couldn't quite bring herself to speak after what Draco had confessed to her.

"I don't know anything about waltzes, music lessons were not part of my upbringing." She shrugged a bit in spite herself.

"My mother used to sing that song to me when I was a baby. That's the one thing I remember of her." She managed to say before an anguish knot constricted completely her throat.

Draco swallowed hard and noticed how his cheeks started to feel way too warm. "So you're not aware then that the way you move, even when you fight, it's as if you were dancing a waltz."

Alecto couldn't stop herself and joked nervously. "Never thought rich people entertain themselves at social events by throwing kicks in the air and punches to each other like those of _my _kind do!" She then pressed her lips tight and fixed her dark eyes on Draco's trembling hands.

As if reading her mind, Draco spitted with resentment waving his hand in the air. "No, no wedding ring. She must have taken it away for me, to make clear that it's over between us, while I was completely out, heavily drugged and tied to a bed."

He let out an enraged grunt though his half-opened lips before continuing. "The ring is gone along with many other things she took away from me…it's gone along with her too…she's dead. The woman I married died nine months ago. Last night my wife tried to murder me because she wanted to leave me."

Finally the tears that haunted him and he held back for so long came to him all at once, breaking him, tearing him apart. "I know how messed up that sounds, meaning how messed up I am..."

"I believe you." Alecto blurted out over Draco's chocked sobs. "I believe that the woman you once married is_ gone_ because she's not the same anymore."

"I wish it were that simple…but it's more complicated…than that." Draco's voice was breathless.

Eventually his sobs became sniffles, his shivering slowed and stopped. "The woman I married died the night I've _saved _her and got her pregnant. She wasn't the same after that. She came back different, completely changed. No-one can come back from death like they were once, everyone dies just one time…if they happen to come back they do it as a complete different person. When she ran away a part of me knew that no matter how hard I tried, she'd never come back to me. With the passing of the days her love for me started to fade, turning that feeling into something hurtful. She became so cold…practically heartless. One thing leaded to the other and soon before I realized I was walking the path you predicted in your note. I was slowly setting things in motion to put an end to my enemy's existence but I ended up trimming the life of my best friend instead…"

Draco's legs were shaking so hard he could barely stand. He buried his face in his hands and slid down the wall to sit on the floor. "He was gone but the sense of loss was so unreal that I refused to consider my best friend wasn't in this world anymore. There was _nothing _I wasn't willing to give in order to have him back."

Draco could barely look at Alecto as he continued retelling. "My wife had left me, my best friend was dead, I had no means left to get in touch with you…I didn't want to continue living like that."

Alecto listened to Draco without daring to interrupt him as all the color drained from her cheeks.

"So I did what it had to be done and I welcomed death with arms wide open…but it wasn't my time to die." Draco snorted bitterly, trying to fill his constricted lungs with air. "The night I've confronted the Dark Lord, Peter Pettigrew killed me but my own flesh and blood sacrificed himself for me with the same determination I did it for him shortly afterwards…"

Picking up slowly from the floor, Draco shortened the distance that separated him from Alecto and stopped mere inches away from her. "Last night I welcomed death a third time and I thought I'd reach the end of the straw…but here I am."

He then reached out and grabbed her hand in his and pressed it against his cheek, close to his blind eye. "I've died and came back as a completely different person, just like my wife did, just like my best friend did. I might not be dead but I won't call_ this_ being alive either."

After the bomb that Draco had just threw at her the blond half-expected her face to look_ that_ astonished after_ everything_ he'd say, but he was remotely prepared when Alecto revealed him _what_ exactly shocked her the most…

"Pettigrew?! Peter Pettigrew?!" Alecto whispered with a shaky, constricted voice.

Draco made another snort-like sound, most people would have freaked out after hearing that he'd died and was brought back to life…but not Alecto.

Pulling his face even closer to hers, she scolded him. "Draco, you're my best student! How could a coward like _him _kill _you_? Have you forgotten everything I've taught you?!"

"He did exactly what cowards do…" The blond gritted his teeth and tried not to lose his temper completely. "He struck me from behind without me even knowing he'd been there when I was dueling the Dark Lord."

Skepticism plagued her paper-white complexion. "Something must have made you low your guard…" She frowned for a second as it hit her. "A weak spot…he threatened to kill your wife, didn't he?"

"He got to her, yes, but it wasn't my wife the one the Dark Lord ended using against me: it was my best friend, the one I've embraced as my brother. The Dark Lord reminded me that he'd died and that I was the one who brought him back to life and I felt…I felt the weight of guilt drowning me because I was the one who ended up destroying who he once was. It was my fault… again…just like with my wife I've destroyed my best friend because of my selfishness… because refused to let them go…" But Draco couldn't continue as anguish flooded him, he lowered his head and squeezed his eyes tight shut.

Cradling her hands around his skull, Alecto forced Draco to look at her. "You've embraced your best friend as your brother because you felt _guilty_ for his death?"

"No!" Draco shook his head to the sides angrily. "I've embraced Blaise as my brother and equal because I didn't want him to die in first place! It wasn't until that moment, when the Death Eaters seized the Astronomy Tower that I realized that I…" Draco felt a knot of dread constricting his vocal cords, dark spots started to cloud his vision.

"_You wanted Blaise to belong to you! That's why you've given him your blood: to possess him! Trouble is…he was the one who ended up possessing you!" _The accusing voice of his unconscious shouted out loud_. _

And with those words all the pain and terror blurred into a sort of waking nightmare. Draco looked up and stared at the mirror. His reflection was not his…it belonged to someone else, someone Draco refused to recognize.

"_Why do you think only one Malfoy is born to each new generation? It's not because we're against the idea of having big families but because the blood-bond between siblings ignites the spark of our true nature! We're born to possess and to dominate! There will never be a balance between two Malfoys born as equals! That's why the constant battle of one wanting to dominate the other and vice versa!" _His reflection turned to face Draco and stared hard into the blonde's eyes. "_The signs, the warnings, it was all there right in front of you! You knew this would happen and you did nothing to stop it!" _

Draco wanted to scream, but I didn't have any breath left to scream with.

"Draco, can you hear me?!" Alecto's voice stopped him from continuing drifting in and out of consciousness.

The Slytherin's pearl-gray left eye was wide open and staring into hers and she could see nothing but raw terror reflected in it.

He took a step away from her and shook his head twice, bringing himself back to reality. "Blaise was born as a Zabini but I've always felt him as a Malfoy."

"Zabini?" Alecto's dark eyes narrowed completely, she looked beyond confused. "Blaise Zabini, the son and sole heir of Alexander Zabini is now your brother?"

"I never get to know his father, he was already dead by the time I met Blaise..." Draco replied drying with the back of his hand the wetness of his cheeks but stopped himself cold when he repaired on her shocked paper-white face. "You knew Alexander?" He asked.

Coming from a pool of swirled thoughts she finally nodded. "I ran into him once. My father was getting some new clothes for my brother and I took the opportunity to sneak out from his vigilance and go window shopping. Alexander was just coming out from a book shop the second my father caught up with me and hit me in the back with his cane for disobeying him. The blow knocked me off balance and I fell..."

Alecto paused to lift unconsciously one hand to her mouth as the memory caught up with her:

_A __six-years old girl was laying on the floor over her stomach, two of her front teeth were broken and her dark eyes watering from the pain. She couldn't see a thing past her nose but felt a firm yet gentle grip pulling her back to her feet then an ice-cold band wrapping her gums._ _By the time her vision cleared the girl saw that her father was now the one laying on the floor over his stomach, spitting blood as he shouted some cursings at the man who was standing in front of him. _

"_How does it feel like to have someone taking it out on you with no reason whatsoever?__! How does it feel like to be in no equal grounds to return the blow?!" A very enraged man demanded to know after sending another kick that landed on Alecto's father's right cheek, turning the battered body to a side._

_Alecto's eyes travelled up and down the tall, slender and elegantly dressed figure of that man. He was wearing a black tuxedo and a silk fur over his shoulders that resembled the skin of a black panther. _

"_It makes you feel angry and bitter and feeds the need for __revenge inside of you, doesn't it?! Well, listen to me you son-of-a-bitch if you know what's best for you, you better don't harm that child again because it'd be your funeral!" He warned, his voice sounded raw and tight and buried a kick on the man's balls._

_Turning to face Alecto the wizard approac__hed the girl with caution and hunched forward. They were practically face-to-face now and she felt like she couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't even think. She was completely marveled with the close-up view of that incredible handsome wizard. He was in his early thirties, his facial features sculpted to perfection and his ebony skin was flawless. Alecto wondered if it felt as smooth as it looked._

"_Let me see, little lady." His incommensurable pitch-black eyes reflected his worry._

_He leaned a bit closer, the tips of his fingers barely brushing Alecto's chin. The girl tilted her head up for him to inspect her closely, her pale lips parting slowly, showing her mended teeth._

"_You're…you're…a wizard." She stammered looking at him with admiration._

"_Does it hurt?" He asked, worry still present in his voice. _

"_Not anymore." Alecto replied gratefully, her eyes fixed on his face without daring to blink. "Thank you Sir." She finished with a little smile on her lips._

_The wizard smiled gently to her._ _"You're welcomed, Alecto." _

_The girl stared at the wi__zard, her mouth opened wide now. She looked stunned when he said her name without need to ask for it. "I take it that you haven't come across many wizards yet, have you?"_

_The way Alecto looked at him __– with such wide and marveled eyes - triggered his good humor._

"_I'm Alexander Zabini but you can call me Lex." He introduced himself charmly, brushing softly his lips over the back of her hand. "My friends call me that."_

_Alecto licked her lips nervously, she wanted to say something, anything but she felt tongue-tied so she limited to smile…but she did it broadly, thanking him__ silently this time._

"_You should do that more often." His __voice softened, his mouth curving into a most seductive smile. "You want to know why?"_

_She nodded eagerly, giggling. _

_Cupping her hand in his, he squeezed it briefly. "Because when someone smiles it makes the other want to smile too. When people share smiles it brings out the best in them."_

_Alecto didn't trust she could manage her voice to work. She felt her pulse racing and practically could hear the rush of blood inside her head._

_Staring at the __battened-up silhouette of Alecto's father from the corner of the eye, Alexander arched one eyebrow at her. "He should be the one afraid of you, not the other way round: he's a muggle and you're a witch."_

"_My father says that only Amycus was born with magic..." The girl's dark eyes started to fill with tears. "But I don't want to be like my father! I don't want to be a muggle because they're cruel people! I don't want to grow up like them, I don't!"_

_Alexander reached up and cradled carefully __her face with both hands this time. "Alecto, your mother was right when she said you're a little gem: you're meant to shine."_

"_Did she say that about me, really?" Alecto sucked back a couple of sobs, shrugging as the cold breeze hit her small frame. _

"_Yes and she wants you to know that she regrets having to leave so soon, when you were just a baby, but that you were the reason why her heart fought so hard to overcome her illness. Your father wished to raise only boys but your mother always wanted to have a baby girl…" Alexander stopped himself and eyed her shaggy clothes with apprehension, the worn-out sweater and cotton skirt she was wearing weren't meant for such harsh weather._

"_It's getting cold. Here, take this." Alexander offered, snaking the fur around her frozen humanity._

_Alecto didn't want to sound ungrateful – despite she didn't knew a thing about furs she could tell it was a very expensive one – but she found herself saying with a shaky voice. "I can't…I can't accept it." _

_She was about to uncurl the soft, smooth and warm black fur from around her but Alexander stopped her pressing softly a hand over her shoulder. "Your brother stashed your mother's winter coat inside a green cardboard box that's on the top shelf of his closet. You've got a talent for sewing; you could make it your size without problem." _

_They stared at each other for a whole minute in a silent communion. _

"_Amycus would try to steal it from you and your father would want to make money out of it but it'd be you the one who'd made good use of this fur when the time comes to leave home." Alexander winked at her he then straightened his back and stretched his clothes. _

_Alecto buried her nose in the fur to smell the scent of Alexander's perfume impregnated in it, it was the most exquisite aroma her __nostrils had ever experienced. "Thank you Lex."_

"_Shine, little lady, shine!" He encouraged cheerfully after turning his back on her._

Coming back to herself, Alecto's dark eyes focused on Draco's face. "Some people say that Alexander Zabini was a very temperamental and volatile man who used to lose his temper easily."

"_Like father…like son."_ Draco munched to himself.

"But after meeting Lex I understood the reasons behind his actions. He was an extremely generous, down-to-earth and kind-hearted man who fought against injustice in all its forms and despised those who abuse of their powers. He was an extremely powerful wizard too, he was an animagus." Alecto's grin seemed to widen with each word, she sounded like a teenager with a crush.

Those last words made Draco's mind start to think faster. _"An animagus?"_

"I still find hard to believe he's dead. I dare say that part of Lex, part of his magic, survived him. I've heard many disturbing stories about the night he died: some say that he was murdered by the Dark Lord when he refused to become a Death Eater while others say that he was poisoned by his own wife…who later blackmailed her way out thanks to one of her many lovers at the Ministry who got rid of all evidence." Alecto paused to take a deep intake of air and continued. "The only thing those stories got in common is that Alexander's body was never found. His inner circle of friends affirms that he prevented the imminent deaths of some of their family members on more than one occasion by sending them warning signs from the other side of the veil."

"Do you happen to know into which animal did Alexander use to morph into?" The blond inquired, he looked more and more intrigued with the passing of the minutes.

"Into a silky feathered owl..." Her dark eyes closed and opened again as she whispered softly. "A pearl-white one…just like his smile."

Draco's heart raced, he looked alarmed as reality struck him. "A pearl-white feathered owl?"

That was more than a coincidence. So Lex, Blaise's owl, was actually what's left of Alexander's magic? Draco then remembered the time he used Lex as the _air-dweller_ in the awakening ritual to bring Blaise back to life. Lex has been the link between the world of the dead and the world of the living.

Draco hesitated, glancing around without fixing his gaze at anything in particular, deep in thinking._ "That's why it worked, that's why Blaise could wake up. That's the reason why he was chosen to return: Alexander's magic was the key element in the awakening rite." _

"Draco?" Alecto's voice was insistent, calling him over and over again until Draco came out from his trance-like state.

"I agree with you, Alexander's magic did survive him." He then pressed his lips into a tight line, frowning as he did so while he finished washing and drying Alecto's feet.

"You've been incredible kind and I appreciate the gesture…" Alecto stood immobile, unsure. "I _really_ do…but Draco, there was no need for you to do that for me."

"I wanted to do it." Draco looked down, his mouth suddenly dry, his heart tapping in his chest, his partial vision erratically coming-and-going.

He'd never had a chance before to run his hands through her bare skin and the heat of desire edged with his natural mischievousness but then something struck deep inside him:

"_If I'm faithful to Luna it's not only because of my wedding bows but because I'm in love with her!"_

"_Are you still in love with Luna?"_

"_No, I'm not."_

Squeezing insistently a roll of bandages in his hand, Draco looked up at Alecto and blurted out. "I still want to do it."

A brief and uncomfortable minute passed before Alecto reacted to what Draco was suggesting and realized that she was half-dressed. She made an attempt to grab the drawstring cotton pants beside her when Draco's hand released the bandage's roll and curled his fingers around her wrist, sensing her pulse. Alecto ducked her head down. Draco's fingers weren't squeezing her wrist but held it firm.

Unable to remain passive any longer, he pulled Alecto's face towards his with his other hand with the intent on kissing her lips. "Tell me I'm wrong. Tell me to stop."

A vibration shook Alecto's already thrumming nerves, Draco could feel her pulse rising and her body tightening full of unusual pressures.

"I'm not your student anymore and that terrifies you. Now that the safety of those boundaries is gone you just don't know how to handle me, do you?" Draco asked, standing right in front of her.

Alecto was breathing extremely fast. She didn't have to say a word to betray how aroused she was. Despite their accented difference in height she was sited over the sink and that made her just Draco's height, his hips were softly brushing her knees.

"Tell me…" For a moment it seemed he was about to lean down to kiss her but he changed direction and placed a light kiss against her forehead. "Tell me what you want."

Before Alecto stopped to think what her body was doing she'd already got her legs spread to the sides as Draco's hips started grinding against her creating the most exact excruciating friction. Her half-closed dark eyes then turned drowsy, pleasure-clouded. But then her expression changed into something painful when she opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Draco, I'm damaged goods." Alecto sounded genuinely ashamed when she ducked her head to the side and stared at Draco's hands caressing softly the burning marks that snaked her thighs like ropes. "Someone like you shouldn't punish himself like this and lower himself to my level."

"Punish himself? Lower himself?" Draco found himself repeating as his calm demeanor cracked completely and every line of his body tensed. "I'm damaged too but you haven't looked down on me, not once! What is so _special _about me?!"

The anger and hurt in Draco's voice made her blood roar in her ears. "I'm just being honest! Who am _I_ to judge _you_?"

"Dammit Alecto! Why do you keep building up differences between us?!" He said, and this time his voice sounded hard and guttural. "WHEN WILL YOU SEE ME AS A MAN?!"

"I CAN'T!" Her eyes were stinging with tears as fury climbed to the top of her voice. "I can't because I'm not even a woman! I'm trash, TRASH! Trash to be burned and destroyed! Nothing would ever grow inside me, it's all burnt!"

Draco gasped in shock but immediately pressed closer to her –preventing her from recoiling another inch away from him - and snaked a loose arm around her waist as he murmured in one ear. "Having a fertile womb doesn't make you a woman but a baby carrier. You might not be able to bring life into this world but you're able to light up the life inside a dying man."

He then brought his hands up to clasp Alecto's moisten face. His manhood twitched and his heart hitched with guilt. "_I_ should be one ashamed for wanting you after what my body's been…"

"Both exposed and deprived since you've got memory?!" She finished the sentence for him blushing angrily; the heat in her face was by then a burning flame. "Still I can't forget_ what_ I am! I've got to remind myself that my place is…"

But when Draco kissed her brow gently Alecto's eyes fluttered shut and her lips closed. Welcoming the fact that she allowed him the chance to kiss her eyelids, he placed a row of kisses on both. Each caress was soft and thin, the barest brush of contact connecting them.

"You're making me feel like a man once again. Would you allow me to make you feel like the woman you try so hard to deny?" Draco inquired, reading carefully her body language, waiting for her to open more to him before making another move.

"Please…" She sighed just before his lips covered hers in a kiss that stole the very breath from her lungs inviting the invasion of his tongue.

Alecto's hands gripped his hips hard - her fingers dugging into the soft cloth of Draco's pants - and pulled him closer but it looked that it wasn't close enough for her…neither for Draco. He needed to be buried inside her, feeling her enclosing him with her body-heat.

Draco heard a long, low moan and realized it was his own, his pants were down to his knees and Alecto's hand was cupping his hardening manhood over the cotton of his briefs. Worming his hands underneath her tank top Draco cupped her small breasts and drifted his lips closer to Alecto's mouth again, tracing her bottom lip with his tongue, teasing in and out the access that she was granting him, tasting her thoroughly.

When Draco rolled up her tank top - with the intention to suck those perky nipples he'd worked with his fingers previously - he couldn't help himself and paused to lick and kiss first a small star-shaped threaded scar Alecto got close to her right breast.

Draco pulled at the elastic waist of Alecto's panties and she lifted her hips to allow him slide them off. Both theirs hearts were slapping against each other's ribs, their breathing catching in their throats, their bodies completely awakened with every fiber straining towards their mutual offering.

Her body arched as his first finger slid inside her with a slow stroke making the flesh tremble in building ecstasy, making her fight the need to whimper at the slow penetration. But Alecto's fight wasn't over, she was finding difficult to accept the pain-filled pleasure of giving in to Draco and lose control over herself. The thought of letting it all go tormented her but also racked her with a lustful fever she couldn't escape. She whimpered as he slid a second finger and cried then a third joined the others and continued stretching her warm and glazed softness. Alecto pulled Draco's briefs down and started stocking his length, wanting to bring it to a state of full hardness.

She closed her eyes shut and pressed Draco tighter against her when his fingers began a slow in-and-out slide making her body arch, wanting more. "You're going to make me come if you keep this up."

"That's the idea." Draco smirked painfully; he was in her same situation. The fire in his sweaty face rushed down into his stomach, then his abdomen, travelling low to his groin.

"Please…I need more…more of you…in me…" Alecto whispered into Draco's ear, fighting to form the words against the thick heavy haze of lust filling her mind.

His hand closed behind the nape of her neck as he pulled her to kiss him, a forceful kiss, flavored with desperation. He entered her by slow inches, giving her body time to adjust to that bone meltingly gentle but possessive invasion. She was incredible tight and so warm and it felt so good. It had been so long since Draco felt _that_ good…it'd been indeed far too long.

"Am I hurting you?" He asked, kissing a tear at the corner of her eye.

Alecto shook her head in denial and groaned, those weren't tears of pain but of raw pleasure and she let Draco know it when she arched her hips, encouraging Draco to enter her deeper.

"I want all…of you…please…please…" She begged insistently in between breathless moans.

A series of spasms shook consequently their bodies once Draco pushed himself all the way in. Alecto continued to hold Draco tighter, she got both arms locked around him, clenching from him, pulling at the deep pulse of him. Draco's knees started to melt with the burning passion; he couldn't continue to stand on his feet any longer. Alecto wrapped both legs around his waist and clinged to him and both fell to the floor.

Now on top of him, Draco could feel that Alecto was desperately seeking for some sense of control so he decided to let her mark the pace and soon – with regained trust and confidence - she was giving herself to him faster and harder, she was riding him and in full control. Her tears stopped and a contagious laughter parted her lips. Draco found himself laughing as well and continued to kiss her with more passion and insistence - leaving her practically breathless - this time he did it with his eyes opened because he wanted to see each and every one of the sensations he was making her feel at that moment. Alecto was literally glowing with blissfulness, she was a whole different woman: so happy and grateful and so…dead.

A crimson shower washed Draco's face seconds before Alecto's lifeless and ice-cold body came crushing on top of him. He remained still, with his back pressed against the floor, paralyzed with terror.

"You filthy whore, he's _mine_!" Blaise spitted out shoving Alecto's limp body from on top of the blond and threw it in the air as it if were garbage.

Draco's mouth fell open - as fear turned into a sick dread - he would have cried out if he could, the erratic way his heart was beating already hurting inside his chest.

"What do you think you were doing with that trash?!" Blaise demanded to know; he then wrapped an arm around Draco's slim waist and lifted him up.

Draco managed to stand, though he swayed until Blaise leaned in against him but at once the blond jerked back violently, almost tripping with his pants.

"Whhhy..dddid..kkk…kkill…herrrr?" The blond stammered with raw panic when his back hit the wall and found himself trapped.

"You belong to me." Blaise limited to reply as if that was all the explanation Draco needed.

At last, the blond found his voice, but it emerged strained. "GO TO HELL!"

"Draco, you're mine. You're mine to fuck as I want, to mark as I want. I own you. I own every part of you. You can't run away from me anymore, there's no place left to hide, not even inside your mind." Blaise's voice was calm but chill as ice.

Draco opened his mouth to say something but a blind hot puncture splitted his skull in two and a blinding white light shook him whole.

"Breathe…breathe slowly…" Alecto's calm voice brought Draco back to consciousness.

Draco's eyes fluttered open, he had a killing headache. He found himself laying on the floor, his head resting over Alecto's lap. She was staring at him with an immutable face in spite of her racking nerves, pressing a damp towel against his sweaty face. "That's it…breathe slowly…_very _slowly…"

For a moment, his lower jaw shuddered under the effort he made to speak but something was stuck on his mouth: it was a wand and his teeth were clenching tight from it.

"You were chocking with your tongue." She explained after retrieving the wood stick from Draco's mouth.

"Alecto..." Draco strangled the word that escaped his constricted throat.

Immediately he shot into a sitting position on the floor. "You're alive!" He cheered with a hysterical laughter.

"And so are you! Now we're two! Woohoo!" Alecto rhymed giggling, making fun of the awkward situation.

The blond ducked his head to the side and repaired that he was still holding the bandage's roll in one hand, he was fully dressed and so was she. "This means…that you and I…we didn't…"

Seeing the incomprehension plastered in her face Draco's mouth went shut. A stinging burn circling his right wrist made him think fast. _"It is a binding spell…that fucker...he wants to control me…"_

Turning to face her again, Draco demanded to know. "I'm not dreaming this too, am I?" His left pearl-gray eye started watering. "You're here. You're real, aren't you?"

"I'm here." Alecto soothed and placed her hands over Draco's shoulders, squeezing them in a reassuring manner. "Draco, I'm real." He felt an electric energy circling his body when she touched him.

"Can you feel inside me now?" He inquired when in reality he wanted to ask. _"Can you feel that I'm a Squib now?" _But those words didn't past his lips this time, his heart was beating furiously and his hands trembled.

They stood gazing into each other's eyes. Alecto was trying to understand what was going through Draco's tortured mind.

"You're caring and gentle, that's how you feel inside too." She confessed with a whisper of a smile on her face that made Draco's stomach tingle.

"So you don't mind…" Noticing the unsteadiness of his voice Draco paused, he knew that he could not afford to think about her that way again but it was stronger. "You don't mind that I've _changed _this much?"

"Draco, I won't lie to you." Alecto chewed her lower lip and noticed that Draco was already stiff with anticipation before saying her next words. "I _am_ worried about you."

"_Worried?_ I was expecting you'd say you…" The then made a snort-like sound and slowly got up on his feet. "You mean that I still mean something to you to feel _worried _about me?"

Alecto got up and stood in front of him. "You've suffered an epileptic attack! I've got every right to feel worried because I care about you!" She said deadly furious with him.

Draco stared into her eyes and then smirked to himself with a sense of relief. Her words kept on fueling his hopes but he couldn't give way to confusion, he had to clear his mind and striving for self-control...but not to avail.

"You _care_ about me?" He leaned forward and inquired mischievously. "How much?"

"I was wrong. You haven't grown up a bit: you're still a child." She replied breathing heavily, her nostrils flaring.

Draco's smirk didn't fade as every fiber in his body awoke with lust. _"Sometimes our minds might play tricks on us but our bodies never lie." _

He had to know what happened just moments ago - that's what he'd told himself and what he meant to tell Alecto as well - so he lifted one hand to the side of her chest to feel that particular scar of hers and to his shocking surprise there it was: the star-shaped threaded scar Alecto got close to her right breast.

"Draco, I've already told you: I'm real." Alecto's voice was barely a whisper.

Draco tried to stay sane. Maybe he _was_ crazy, wandering in dementia, tormented with the illusions that he inflicted upon himself in his subconscious. He couldn't grasp what was real and what wasn't anymore. Had he really woke up or was he continuing dreaming? If that wasn't real then _what_ was?

"I like how you feel on the inside…" He hissed, his fingers tracing softly over the thin layer of cotton the shape and size of her scar. "…as well as how you feel on the outside."

Alecto looked at him with glassy eyes and parted her moist lips to say something but she found herself gasping for breath when Draco leaned forward and kissed the exact spot where her scar was hiding behind her tank top.

Breathing deeply he focused his gaze on Alecto. "I've got a proposition to make…"

For those few seconds Alecto held her breath and Draco could feel that she was amassing excuses inside her mind, trying to decide which one to choose this time to slip through the awkward situation successfully.

"…and this time I won't take _no _for an answer." Draco's pearl-gray eye darkened completely.

A cold sweat started running down her spine, Alecto looked completely mortified.

"I want you..." Fighting against the trembling that shook momentarily his body Draco tried to phrase his _other_ intentions. "…to work for me."

For Draco the best answer to all that insanity was to keep himself moving, focusing on his goal: Scorpius. And to achieve that goal he needed someone he could trust without falsehoods in between, someone he could rely on at key moments, someone who wouldn't look down on him whether he was crazy or not…or a Squib.

"You're offering me a job, _really_?" Alecto asked with a growing smile, with the passing of the seconds her facial features resembled the blissfulness any child would experience when being offered the biggest candy available at the shop.

"From now on I want you to be right by my side wherever I go." Draco moved closer, hardly an inch between their noses if it wasn't for their difference in height. Alecto barely reached his shoulder…when she was standing on the tips of her feet.

"I, Draco Malfoy, take you, Alecto Carrow, to be…" Cupping her chin inside his palm, he lifted her face to meet his serious gaze. "…my bodyguard."

llllllllllllllllllllllll

**A/N:**

**(*)You and you - STRAUSS ("Du und du" from _Die Fledermaus_ op. 367 - year 1874)**

**listen to this waltz at:** www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=VgM8fUFcE-A

**(the part that Alecto was humming was from 1.18 minutes on...) **

"_Which one, which one of you is in to me? Which one, which one of me is in to you?__" __(KoRn - "Bitch, we've got a problem")_

Who is Alecto? You might want to go and double-check what's revealed on **CHAPTER 36** about the "relationship" between Draco & Alecto from one of Scorpius' clippings. I dare you to read in between the lines what Draco says about her.

For those who are too lazy to go back & check, here's the extract:

_**- OLD FLAMES DIE HARD -**_

_It's been over two years since the wife of the Minister of Magic, Luna __Lovegood-Malfoy (21), was last seen supporting her husband during one of his public speeches. In reply to the horde of rumors stating that the young couple's marriage was on the rocks, Draco Malfoy (22) limited to say [exact quote]: "My wife is my life." When inquired about his repeated apparitions in public with __Alecto Carrow (27) – a half-blood tiny and plain witch __of questionable reputation__because of her outspoken hatred towards muggle-borns wizards and witches in the past and whose passion for both magic and non-magic weaponry and her inclination towards the Dark Arts almost secured her a place at Azkaban shortly after the fall of Voldemort - the Minister acknowledged [exact quote] "Two years ago our paths crossed again during a most strange event. What started as a harmless jinx some students come up with in order to delay the year's start of terms at school developed into something out of control when an unexpected fire started at Platform 9 3/4 and the Hogwarts Express got practically burnt out. Alecto Carrow was supposed to fill the place __Charity Burbage__, professor of Muggle Studies, left vacant after she retired. I know Alecto since I was seven years old; she was the one who'd taught me how to defend myself properly without using magic but my own body as weapon. She also trained me in the handling of non-magical weapons such as knives, swords, bows and arrows. It was going to be a complete waste of her talents if I let her teach that class at Hogwarts, she needed something different, something challenging. Once I've finally succeeded to convince her of rejecting the teaching position I've hired her as my personal bodyguard. That's why she is with me whenever I appear in public. Yes, we did share a lot of common interests in the past and we still do. I've always admired how she disciplined herself in body and mind to achieve the goals she set in her life. I do care about her in many different aspects and my relationship with her is both professional and personal but it's remotely like the tabloids had described. Alecto might not be the stereotype of beauty, like most or you reporters use to label her when displaying her photos, but she's extremely intelligent and a very skillful fighter. Those qualities combined are rare to find in a woman and that's exactly what makes her stand out from the rest in a unique way. She might weight only ninety-three pounds and be scarcely five feet tall but she can easily bring to the floor a six point five feet tall man of two hundred and fifty pounds in the blink of an eye without having to take out her wand. Before any of your sources distort the truth I'd like to confirm the information myself: Yes, I did have a crush on Alecto when I was younger but it never surpassed the platonic stage. Unlimited were the truths she exposed to me as an educator in my eager search for knowledge but when I wanted to unveil her mysteries as a woman she made certain to set the boundaries between us. I must confess that only fueled the firm conviction and determination that encompassed all through my teenager's turmoiled phase to tear down her unyielding unwillingness to see me as a man. But like I've said before, Alecto is a terrific fighter. I've ended up paying the price of my stubbornness very painfully, literally spitting blood. As time past by my respect for her, along with my sense of self-preservation, quietened my raging hormones and I've realized that it wasn't unwillingness but the unquestionable dedication towards her work what kept her from letting me in." _

_When questioned about the gossiping of their being involved romantically now that the Minister is no longer a student of hers, Alecto replied with a funny giggle [exact quote]: "Every woman in the Wizardry World would agree with me when I say that Draco Malfoy is everything we want in a man: he is charismatic, well-mannered, cultivated, quick-witted, enchanting…a true gentleman. He'd always been like that. Even then, when he was just a child, Draco made quite an impression the very first moment I met him, fifteen years ago. I was mesmerized by his many inherited qualities, yes, but I knew perfectly well which was my place. Nevertheless, with the passing of the years and because we'd come across many challenges together I ended up growing fond of him, who wouldn't? Despite our age gap doesn't weight as much as it did before, whenever I look at Draco I still see that small boy forced to grow up very quickly and eager to prove to himself and to the world what he's capable of. My relationship with him is strictly professional and I know exactly where I'm standing: my job is to safeguard his physical integrity. If Draco assigned me this task is because he knows I'd never dare to jeopardize the trust he deposited in me and it's because I care about Draco the way I do that I'm committed to fulfill my duties accordingly."_


	41. Chapter 41

**UPDATE (December 26th 2011)**

**A WHILE AGO SOME LOSERS MISUNDERSTOOD THE MEANING OF **

**"FREE TO READ" AND TRANSLATED INTO "STEAL"**

**THE REASON WHY I HAVEN'T POSTED THE LAST CHAPTER OF MY STORY**

**IS DUE TO A BUNCH OF FUCKERS WHO STOLE MY WORK AND POSTED**

**IT IN THEIR BLOGS & WEBSITES NOT ONLY CREDITING THEMSELVES**

**FOR MY WORK BUT ALSO PROFITING FROM IT...**

**IT'S BEEN ABOUT A YEAR SINCE THAT HAPPENED AND THOSE FUCKERS**

**GOT FINALLY EXPOSED FOR WHAT THEY ARE...**

**BE WARNED… **

**NEXT TIME YOU DARE STEAL SOMETHING FROM ME**

**YOU'LL BURN IN HELL BEFORE I DO...**

**(SO) DIVINNE**


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